Struggling Carlisle United have suffered another injury blow – with loan striker Daniel Adu-Adjei ruled out for up to two months.

The AFC Bournemouth frontman has been sidelined with a knee injury.

Caretaker boss Steven Rudd said Adu-Adjei would be out for six to eight weeks.

Adu-Adjei is now back at his Premier League parent club for the first stages of his recovery.

The 19-year-old went for a scan last week and the results confirmed the extent of his lay-off.

“Everything is structurally fine with his knee, so there’s no major damage – it’s just a slow recovery now of letting things heal and building it back up,” joint caretaker Rudd told the News & Star.

“It’s gutting to lose Dan but hopefully in six to eight weeks he'll be back and he'll be a great player to have back when he's fit.

“He’s gone back down [to Bournemouth] for the time being. Obviously they've got more staff, more facilities, more rehab things to do.

“They wanted to keep an eye on him and check him over and make sure everything was fine and when he's more able he'll come back up here and link in with us.”

The injury deals a further blow to United, who are third bottom of League Two after losing five of their first six games, the latest a 3-2 defeat to Fleetwood Town at Brunton Park on Saturday.

Adu-Adjei is the latest striker to be forced onto the sidelines with Georgie Kelly already out with a calf problem.

Terell ThomasTerell Thomas (Image: Martyn Haworth)

Along with Adu-Adjei, defender Terell Thomas missed the game with the hamstring injury he aggravated in the previous weekend’s 2-1 defeat at Bradford City.

Rudd, though, expects the Saint Lucia international to return soon and be quickly available for United’s impending new head coach.

“He had another little recurrence on his hamstring, but that's nothing major – it will just be a week or two to settle back down and heal fully, added Rudd.