Sunderland defender Wes Brown will miss another few weeks of action after suffering a setback to his knee injury.

The centre-back has yet to make an appearance for the Black Cats in the current campaign, having picked up the problem during pre-season.

Sunderland currently sit 16th in the Premier League, and manager Martin O'Neill believes that a fit Brown would have benefited the side so far this year.

"It would be great if he was fit and available, but just as we speak he has had a setback again and he will be out for a few more weeks than we thought," said O'Neill.

"He has been out for a fairly lengthy time already and I am quite sure his ability and experience could help us, absolutely. He has been out for so long."

Sunderland lost 1-0 to Aston Villa at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.