Anderson out for three months

Sunderland boss Roy Keane has been dealt a fresh blow by the news that defender Russell Anderson will be out of action for three months after undergoing ankle surgery.

Anderson, a £1m summer signing from Aberdeen, has had an operation to repair ligaments damaged during the Carling Cup defeat at Luton last month.

Keane was already without suspended midfielder Dickson Etuhu for tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League clash with Blackburn. Defender Nyron Nosworthy is rated at 50-50 with a knee problem, but Andy Cole (calf), Carlos Edwards (hamstring), Kieran Richardson (back), and Dean Whitehead and Stanislav Varga (both knee) are all out.

Provisional squad: Gordon, Ward, Nosworthy, Halford, Kay, McShane, Anderson, Higginbotham, Collins, Harte, Wallace, Yorke, Miller, Leadbitter, Chopra, Jones, Stokes, Murphy, Connolly, O’Donovan.