Sunderland defender Russell Anderson admits his latest injury is "soul destroying".

Anderson missed the start of the season with a hamstring problem he suffered in pre-season and then, after his brief comeback, last month he was ruled out for 12 weeks after undergoing ankle reconstruction surgery.

"I picked up a little niggle in pre-season which wasn't anything serious," he told the Shields Gazette. "But this new injury is the really frustrating one.

"I went over on it a few times in pre-season, but I tried to play through it when, really, there was obviously an underlying problem there.

"I did it again in the Carling Cup game against Luton and that was the final straw - the damage to the ligament was quite bad and for that reason I needed an operation to re-attach it to the ankle.

"That's been done and now it's just a case of doing the rehab.

"I knew I was going to be out for a while and that was disappointing because I see the players coming in every day to train and then play at the weekend.

"When you're injured it can be a bit soul-destroying at times, but it's something I just have to deal with and get on with."