Mick McCarthy has described the eight weeks injury lay-off for winger Michael Kightly because of potential ankle surgery as "really disappointing". The 23-year-old was replaced on Sunday in the 1-0 home defeat by Birmingham – half an hour after coming on as a substitute in the 32nd minute - and on Tuesday visited a specialist for a scan on the problem area. McCarthy said: "He's had a scan and it looks like he'll need an operation which would be six to eight weeks out." Kightly underwent hip and foot surgery in the close-season and had only just returned to form for the Premier League newcomers. McCarthy said Kightly would get the best treatment available and revealed the prognosis could have been a lot worse. "The way he went over and rolled his ankle apparently he's quite lucky and it could have been worse," he said. McCarthy added on the official club website: "We've not really had Michael at his full potential yet and Sunday was the first time we'd maybe seen that and then he picks up a new injury. "It's really disappointing for him because he wants to play and he thought he was somewhere at it."