Sunderland have been dealt a major injury blow with the club confirming Jack Clarke will not return to training until April.
The Black Cats’ top scorer missed last week’s defeat to Swansea, which was the first game this season in which he has not featured.
At the time, head coach Mike Dodds said he thought it was just a knock and he was ‘raring’ to go again, but it has turned out to be much more serious than that.
What looked like a simple roll of the ankle at Birmingham has turned out to be ligament damage, and Clarke is now expected to be out for six weeks, during which Sunderland play eight Championship matches.
Given he is likely to leave in the summer too, there is a serious possibility that he is just one setback away from having played his last match for the club.
“The 23-year-old sustained an ankle ligament injury during the Club’s trip to Birmingham City and he subsequently missed last weekend’s fixture against Swansea City,” a club statement confirmed.
“Further assessments of the injury have now been completed, with the winger expected to be out of action for up to six weeks.
“The Club’s leading scorer with 15 goals and four assists, Clarke will now undergo a period of rehabilitation before an anticipated return to training in April.”
The emphasis will now fall on the likes of Abdoullah Ba, Romaine Mundle and Nazariy Rusyn to step up and ease the pain of losing Clarke, although they were going to have to do that in the summer anyway.
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