Wigan boss Steve Bruce says injured defender Erik Edman should be playing again in "seven to eight months".

The Swede underwent an operation in his homeland last week to repair torn anterior cruciate ligament damage and he has already begun the rehabilitation programme.

Edman suffered the injury at Easter against Blackburn and with an Autumn return on the horizon for the Swedish player, Bruce is likely to enter the transfer market at the end of the season to bridge the gap.

"Erik had the operation in his home city last Wednesday and they had him up starting his rehab by Friday, just some gentle stuff to start with," Bruce told the Wigan Evening Post.

"He has a long road back ahead of him - that is the down side of football. But if anyone is going to bounce back from something like this, it's Erik.

"Over the next weeks and months, he'll do his rehab work in Sweden and over here. But our physio [Dave Galley] is in control of it all.

"If everything goes to plan, we hope he's back playing in seven or eight months."