Sunderland Football Club News

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

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

McShane facing surgery blow

20 Jul 2009 - 08:55:28

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Sunderland's Republic of Ireland defender Paul McShane faces at least three months out of action after tests confirmed that he requires surgery on a knee injury.

The versatile 23-year-old was injured in the 4-0 friendly win over Darlington last Thursday and missed the Black Cats' training camp in Portugal as a result.

McShane is set to go under the knife this week, with manager Steve Bruce disappointed by the news.

He told the club's official website: "This news is exactly what we didn't want and now we will be without Paul for a while."

Better news came with the return to full training of goalkeeper Marton Fulop, who has recently been troubled by an Achilles problem.

However, the 26-year-old Hungarian was not fit enough to feature in the clash with Portuguese side Portimonense, which ended in a 1-0 victory for Sunderland, thanks to a Carlos Edwards strike.