These are the 7 Sunderland games Ian Poveda will miss after injury blow

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris has confirmed that summer signing Ian Poveda will be absent for between four and six weeks after suffering an injury during the Black Cats’ midweek win over Derby County.

The winger was introduced as a second half substitute against the Rams, but lasted just 11 minutes before being forced off with a problem. The 24-year-old was making his return from a thigh issue sustained during an U21s match last month, and in total, he has managed just 44 minutes of Championship action across three cameos since arriving on Wearside.

Addressing Poveda’s latest setback in a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Le Bris said: "For Ian, it is still too early for the full diagnosis but I think it is going to be a long injury, maybe four or six weeks.

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“It's a shame because he is very involved in his progression, his way of training. But the Championship is long, we still have 38 games to play. Ian is going to be helpful for the team but he is going to need time to recover."

Six weeks from Thursday, if that is indeed the length of Poveda’s absence, would take Sunderland through to November 14th - partway through the third international break of the campaign. But between now and then, the Black Cats have no fewer than seven fixtures scheduled.

The first game of that run is Leeds United on Friday evening, with Poveda now set to miss out on a reunion with the club who handed him his breakthrough in senior football. After that, Sunderland will be out of action for a short while as a number of Le Bris’ squad head off for the second international break of the campaign.

Sunderland’s first game back after the break is an away trip to Hull City on October 20th, followed by a midweek visit to Luton Town three days later. The Black Cats will round out a hectic week with a home fixture against Oxford United on October 26th. From there, Sunderland travel to QPR on November 2nd before facing Preston North End at Deepdale on November 6th and Coventry City at the Stadium of Light on November 9th. As things stand, Poveda is expected to miss all of the games mentioned above.