The club will now look for “expert advice from specialists around the world” as they become increasingly concerned with having to make do without their record signing for more time to come.
Big Sam spoke to the official site, “It’s the same type of injury but in a different area. It is not an Achilles injury, as has been suggested but instead it involves the band of tissue which runs under the foot.
“According to the specialist the chance of a recurrence of that type of injury is about four per cent but unfortunately for Andy he was one of the unlucky ones.
“We had been very cautious, very patient with him along the way and it’s sad this has happened for him as well as us.
“He doesn’t need an operation but we need to give the foot time to re-heal, continue the rehab and get him back in training again.”