The Blackburn Rovers football club have suffered a dent to their Premier League survival hopes after Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz underwent knee surgery.
The 27-year-old has been out of action since the 0-0 draw with Everton at the beginning of March.
Blackburn manager Sam Allardyce says Santa Cruz had a little arthroscopy to clean out a floating fragment in his knee, and while refusing to put a time limit on the strikers return was optimistic it won't be too long.
Santa Cruz was the subject of repeated enquiries from Manchester City during the January transfer window, and has made just seven appearances for Blackburn since February 1, scoring twice.
Blackburn are currently four points clear of the Premier League relegation zone.
