Huge blow for Wolves and Mexico as veteran striker Raul Jimenez ruled out until January with knee injury

The experienced Championship and El Tri forward faces a spell on the sidelines until January after learning he needs an operation on his left knee. He sustained the medial collateral ligament damage during a Carabao Cup defeat away at Everton on September 16.

Since rejoining the Molineux outfit from Fulham last summer, the frontman had enjoyed a productive return of three goals in six league appearances.

Losing their starting World Cup striker is a major blow for the national side, who went winless across the September and October international windows during new manager Rafael Marquez's first matches in charge.

Detailing why the issue failed to heal through conservative rehabilitation, Wolves director of performance Phil Hayward told the club's official website: "Unfortunately Raul's injury has not responded as we expected.

"Normally the ligament for a fairly low-grade injury would heal on its own, however this has not responded as we were expecting, and after regularly scanning for the last three weeks, the ligament is not healing in the anticipated way.

"So, he'll have the surgery on Friday in London, and then he'll have around three months of rehabilitation before he's ready to play again."

Despite that frustrating setback, the club received more encouraging fitness news regarding injured trio Rodrigo Gomes (ankle), Bertrand Traore (hamstring) and Boubacar Traore (calf).

Providing a comprehensive update on how the three players are progressing in their recovery, Hayward added: "Rodrigo Gomes is progressing well, but it's still early days. He injured a couple of ligaments in the ankle, so it wasn't a straightforward injury,

"He's still waiting on the inflammation to settle, and then we'll start to build him up and get him back outside as soon as that's settled. It's not going to be a long-term one, so he should be back reasonably quickly.

"Bertrand Traore has had a hamstring issue. It's a fairly small injury, however it is in a particularly problematic part of the muscle, which can commonly recur if we're not careful. So, we have to respect that and take our time with it. But it's not a big injury, he's doing really well, working hard and won't be too long.

"Boubacar Traore has been out for a couple of weeks because of a problem with his calf. He's back on the pitch working with the rehab coaches and doing really well. He's progressing nicely and he'll be back in full training in the next week or two. He's responded really well to the treatment."

Sitting 10th in the Championship and three points adrift of West Brom in the play-offs, Wolves must now cope without their seasoned focal point. Their immediate test arrives on Friday evening against struggling Burnley, who sit 21st and level on points with the relegation zone. On the international front, the striker will also miss both legs of Mexico's Concacaf Nations League quarter-final against Jamaica in mid-November.