Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole will be out for four months after undergoing surgery on a hip injury.
The 28-year-old has made just two appearances in the Premier League this term, the second of which was on Sept. 24 in a 3-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace.
The long-standing back injury that Cattermole aggravated in that loss had reportedly started to clear up as he neared a return.
But now the midfielder has torn cartilage in his hip and is expected to be out until March, robbing Sunderland of his his experience of previous relegation battles as David Moyes' side head towards another fight for survival.