Sunderland boss gives a worrying Ross Stewart injury update with lengthy absence feared

Stewart was stretchered off early in the 1-1 draw with Fulham, having felt his achilles pop when trying to put the home defence under pressure.

The Scot has left the ground in a protective boot and will need a scan to confirm the exact severity of the injury, but the club fear that he may have suffered a complete rupture.

If so, he is facing a long absence that would come as a major setback for both player and club.

Mowbray said: “Ross has got a big, protective boot on – it’s an achilles injury. I’ve just speaking to the doctors there and because he’s not hopping about and screaming in pain, it could potentially be a complete tear which would be a long, long time.

"Beyond that I don’t want to jump to any conclusions, something has popped as he makes that run and we’re concerned about him, having lost Corry Evans earlier this week.

"It overshadows things for us, in terms of the longer picture for us as a club. Ross scored two goals in my first game and then got injured the next week. We lost him for a long period and yet he came back and scored in every single game for us. The positive for us is that we’ve signed Joe Gelhardt this week and I’ll go and speak to our head of recruitment now and see if we can keep in the market [for another striker].”