Carlisle United have suffered a major injury blow with Joshua Kayode sidelined for 12 weeks.

The striker has suffered a shoulder injury which requires surgery.

Manager Paul Simpson revealed the extend of the loanee’s injury following United’s 1-1 draw at Lincoln City.

Kayode was not in the squad – and Simpson confirmed the Rotherham loan man would now be out until around December.

“He’s going to be out for a long time. Probably looking at 12 weeks,” said Simpson.

“In the challenge on the edge of the box at Accrington [in the EFL Trophy] where he got smashed, I was concerned about his ankle but his ankle was fine.

“But when he landed we think he’s popped his shoulder out and then it may have gone back in, so he’s torn the ligament on the shoulder.

“He wanted to carry on last week and get through the Stevenage game and he had his shoulder taped up – the doctor had examined him and there was no sign of a dislocation, but it got worse over the weekend.

“We had him scanned early this week, then went to see a surgeon on Friday and the decision is he needs surgery.

“The operation will go ahead on September 26 and they’ve told us 12 weeks.

“It’s similar to what Ryan Edmondson did last year and he was back in ten, so fingers crossed JJ comes back in a good state.

“The challenge now is for us to rally round JJ, make sure he’s in a good mental state and that he gets all the help and recovery he needs to get back.”

Simpson said Kayode would remain at Rotherham until he has surgery and hoped the 23-year-old could return to Carlisle for non-contract training after four weeks, with full contact training at the eight-week stage.

The injury blow comes after just two appearances in Kayode’s third loan spell with the Cumbrians, after he joined in a season-long deal on transfer deadline day.

“It’s a huge blow, a massive blow for us and more importantly for JJ, because he had really settled in, I was looking forward to seeing him getting fitter, stronger, being a real focal point,” added Simpson.

“It opens up the door for somebody else. While JJ is out everybody’s got to do the job.”