Duncan Watmore facing second season out after suffering identical cruciate knee injury

The Sunderland winger Duncan Watmore is facing another season out of action having sustained a suspected rupture of his anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee that he suffered an identical injury in December last year.

Watmore, 22, was injured in Sunderland’s home draw against Millwall on Saturday, his sixth game back for the club following eight months away from action in rehabilitation from his cruciate injury sustained in December last year when the club were still in the Premier League.

On this occasion, it is understood that Watmore suffered the impact when a Millwall player fell on top of him. He did not go off immediately but was eventually unable to continue and it was soon after the game that he was diagnosed with potentially the same cruciate ligament injury.

He is due to have exploratory surgery on the knee towards the end of this week but the suspicion is that it is another rupture of the anterior cruciate which will mean he does not play again this season.

It is a blow to the new Sunderland manager Chris Coleman, for whom Watmore would be one of those players the club were hoping could transform what has been a dreadful 18 months.

The ultimate yo-yo clubs

Watmore first ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in December last season playing against Leicester City. He had established himself as a first-team Sunderland player and part of the England Under-21 team that eventually went to the European Championships in the summer of this year, albeit without Watmore.

Sunderland had tried to ease him back into first-team action and he had sat out the away defeat to Middlesbrough the week before returning to the first XI to face Millwall.

Watmore had recently signed up to Juan Mata’s Common Goal programme, pledging one per cent of his salary to charity. He also represents one of Sunderland’s key current saleable assets should the club decide they need to raise transfer funds from player sales.