Aston Villa saw off the challenge of bottom side Sunderland on Tuesday evening to close the gap on the Championship top two, with Steve Bruce’s side emerging from the hard-fought affair with a 2-1 victory.

Goals from Albert Adomah and Josh Onomah sealed the points for the side from the West Midlands, condemning new Black Cats boss Chris Coleman to defeat in his first game in charge.

However, the result was bittersweet for those associated with the former Premier League regulars, with Bruce revealing via The Birmingham Mail revealing that striker Jonathan Kodjia will require an operation on the ankle injury he suffered whilst on international duty with the Ivory Coast.

Kodjia missed five months of action over the summer and into the new campaign after undergoing an operation to repair his fractured ankle towards the end of last season, and now manager Bruce has confirmed the striker is set to go under the knife once more.

Kodjia could be out for months, and Bruce has admitted the search for a new striker has begun.

“Without your No.9 it’s always going to be difficult,” admitted the former Man United defender.

“But we’ll have to deal with it.

“Let’s hope we can find someone in January to help us because that’s going to be vitally important.”

The Verdict

The loss of Kodjia will come as a huge blow to Villa, with the Ivorian international the club’s top scorer last season.

Coupled with the loss of John Terry, Villa have lost two of their most effective players in a matter of days.

Fans will be disappointed with Kodjia’s injury, but what is most frustrating is that the blow was sustained during training whilst on international duty.

Aggravating old injuries is a risk players take when coming back from a long-term lay-off, and Kodjia has fallen foul of this.

It looks like the player could be out for the season if a similar healing period of five months is required, although no timescale has been set on the forward's return.

Villa fans, who would you like to see the club bring in to replace Kodjia in January? Have your say below...