Sunderland forward Duncan Watmore is likely to miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
Chris Coleman’s reign as Sunderland manager has not got off to the best of starts.
The former Wales boss has yet to take charge of a match and already he has lost one of his best players to injury.
It is a huge blow to the forward, who only returned in September from cruciate ligament damage.
Upon taking over at the Stadium of Light, Coleman was tipped by The Sunderland Echo to make loan moves for Liverpool duo Danny Ward and Ben Woodburn, both of whom were a part of his Wales squads.
Woodburn is only 18 years of age and has made more apperances for the Red Dragons than he has the senior Liverpool side, so dragging him into a Championship relegation battle would be a huge gamble.
However, news of the severity of Watmore’s injury should convince Coleman to take a punt on the teenager, whose pace and directness would make him a like-for-like replacement for the Black Cats favourite.
Coleman will be in the Sunderland dugout for the first time when they travel to Aston Villa on Tuesday.
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