Following consultation with a specialist, it is anticipated that Gylfi Sigurdsson’s knee injury, sustained in Saturday’s Premier League win over Brighton, will keep him sidelined for between six and eight weeks.

“We’ll continue to assess Gylfi’s progress on a week-to-week basis and the medical team will work very closely with him, as they would with any injured player, to get him back playing as quickly as possible,” said Blues manager Sam Allardyce.