Sunderland forward Lynden Gooch has been ruled out of action after suffering suspected ankle ligament damage while representing the club’s under-23 side.
The USA international fell awkwardly and was subsequently stretchered off during a 2-2 with Tottenham Hotspur at Eppleton CW.
Gooch, 20, joins Lee Cattermole (hip) and Paddy McNair (knee) on the long-term injury list, but Jan Kirchhoff could play a part when Sunderland take on Leicester City on Saturday.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, David Moyes also revealed that Italy international Fabio Borini has returned to training.
“Fabio Borini is starting to train and he’s getting closer and Seb Larsson was back involved last weekend, so some of our senior players are coming back into the squad and we need it because we’ve lost a few players through injury and we’ll lose some players for the Africa Cup of Nations.
“We’ve got Jan Kirchhoff coming back but as we know Lee Cattermole is going to be out for a while.”
He continued: “I think the biggest disappointment has been losing some of the younger lads – Paddy McNair and Lynden Gooch have both picked up quite bad injuries.
“It looks like Lynden has damaged ligaments in his ankle – at first when I saw it at the game I thought he might have broken his leg but thankfully not – and he’s seeing a specialist in London today so after that we will know the proper outcome.
“I’m not quite sure if Jan will be ready [for Saturday] because he’s had a bit of sickness this week, but he will be around the squad.”