Sunderland Football Club News

• Nickname:Black Cats
• Founded:1879
• Manager:Martin O'Neill

• Ground:Stadium of light
• Capacity:48,353

Black Cats rue Elliott loss

15 Feb 2007 - 13:00:35

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Sunderland's promotion charge has been hit by the news that Stephen Elliott will miss the next six weeks after undergoing ankle surgery.

The Republic of Ireland striker has been dogged by an ankle problem for the past few weeks and was sent for surgery after the injury failed to respond to a spell of rest on the sidelines.

"He has been struggling with it for three or four weeks and it's similar to the problem he had on his other ankle," Black Cats boss Roy Keane told the club's official website.

"It's not a major disaster in terms of how long he will be out.

"Hopefully he will come back stronger and finish the season well, his goals could be important to us."

Meanwhile, central defender Stanislav Varga has returned to training after recovering from a virus.