Manchester United captain Roy Keane is due to have a hip operation today, keeping him out of action for around three months.
The lay-off should coincide neatly with an official ban following his sending-off last weekend. The English Football Association is also due to decide this week whether he should face disciplinary charges over his controversial autobiography.
"Roy is going in for an operation on his hip and is therefore out of the Middlesbrough game. It's something that has been troubling him for quite some time and we've decided that now is the time for it to be done," manager Alex Ferguson said.
"We hope we'll have him back by December for the main part of the season," Ferguson said on United's website.
"By then, hopefully, we'll have qualified for the second phase of the Champions League. Roy has been getting by, but getting by very impressively."
The website said the timing of Keane's operation was "ideal" as he could be hit by a possible seven-match ban.
Keane has been carrying the injury since before the summer and Ferguson had wanted his captain to miss the World Cup finals to have surgery.
He was sent off against Sunderland on Saturday after elbowing Jason McAteer, a former Ireland team mate, and is likely to be banned for three matches.