Brown blow for Sunderland

Sunderland forward Chris Brown faces a spell on the sidelines through injury.

Brown damaged ankle ligaments in last weekend's 3-2 defeat to Tottenham and was forced off after 33 minutes of the clash at White Hart Lane.

The injury is a major blow for Brown as he was hoping to establish himself in the side after only recently returning from a loan spell at Hull.

"It's just one of those things. I fell on it awkwardly and I've been told it could be a month," Brown told the club's official website.

"I won't know for sure until the swelling goes down and I can't have a scan."

Better news on the injury front for Sunderland is the possible return of Julio Arca for this weekend's clash with Charlton.

The Argentine ace has been out of action for the last ten weeks with a toe problem, but he has set his sights on a return at The Valley.

"Things are going well and I'd love to be involved against Charlton, hopefully I will," said Arca.

"It's just a case of me trying to regain my match fitness because I've gone a long time without any football.

"I'm itching to be back now. I've been out much longer than expected and I just want to get back and help the team."