ROY KEANE'S early season frustrations further increased last night when he learned Sunderland will be without three members of his first choice midfield for at least a month.

With captain Dean Whitehead already ruled out for six months with knee ligament trouble, Keane had been hoping to hear that Carlos Edwards would be available to face Reading in the Premier League on Saturday.

However, as well as Edwards' hamstring problem resurfacing, the Sunderland boss has also been informed that his third most expensive signing is now facing up to three months out.

Kieran Richardson, the £5.5m purchase from Manchester United, has suffered a stress fracture to his back and could be out of action until Christmas.

Now Keane will have to shuffle his back on a regular basis in an attempt to fill the holes vacated by the three players.

"We have had bad news on Kieran. He saw a specialist this week and he has a stress fracture of his back. We will have more news after he sees a surgeon later," said Keane.

"I would have thought he will be out for two to three months. It's a major disappointment. Kieran was able to do elements of training but it affected him when he twisted or hit the ball hard.

"In the last week or two, we were hoping that it might settle down, but clearly it's a lot more serious."

Richardson has not figured for Sunderland since having to withdraw early in the 2-0 defeat to Liverpool on August 25.

The 22-year-old had struggled to make an impact in his opening games under Keane and his unavailability over the course of the next few months is hardly going to help his confidence.