Keane reveals Jones absence
17 Jul 2008 - 15:40:16
Sunderland expect Kenwyne Jones to miss the first two months of the season with the knee ligament injury picked up while playing against England.
Black Cats boss Roy Keane has revealed the striker is not likely to feature in the first team until October after damaging his knee while away on international duty.
The 23-year-old hitman, who netted eight goals for the Wearsiders last season, sustained knee ligament damage in the early stages of Trindad & Tobago's 3-0 friendly defeat by England in Port of Spain back on June 1.
The former Southampton striker was involved in a heavy collision with England goalkeeper David James.
"Clearly there is knee ligament damage, but we are hopeful," said Keane.
"We've got two or three weeks to play with yet but it would certainly rule him out for the first month or two whatever happens."
Meanwhile, Keane has reassured supporters concerned at a lack of transfer arrivals so far this summer that new signings are just around the corner.
"I'm fairly confident that we'll have one or two new ones here over the next few days, to join us for the second part of our Portugal trip," he revealed.
"I'm hopeful of getting five of six new faces in by the start of the season."