INFLUENTIAL midfielder Ouss Cisse has been ruled out until November with a hamstring injury.

Latics' summer signing limped off in the second half of last Saturday's home defeat to Colchester United, with a scan this week revealing the extent of the damage.

And Curle said it was a blow to lose such a key player for that amount of time - with Cisse potentially missing at least 15 games.

"Cisse is going to be out for nine or 10 weeks," the head coach confirmed.

"He's got a hamstring issue but it's not just a hamstring, it involves the tendons as well.

"He added that physicality to us and that maturity in midfield.

"He's going to be a miss.

"You're bringing in a player that you think you can build a squad around and shape a team around and the next thing he's missing for about nine weeks."

Latics have been dogged by early injuries and absences in a winless start to the League Two campaign, with SIX players unavailable for Saturday's trip to Football League newcomers Sutton United.

"Jamie Hopcutt comes in and plays for 60 minutes and he's out for eight weeks," added Curle.

"Didn't see that one coming.

"Jamie Bowden comes in and he's off for 21 days with Covid.

"These are all players that were brought in to start in your team.

"Jack Stobbs came in and played excellently against Bradford and the next thing he pulls a hamstring against Bristol (Rovers) and he's out for three to four weeks."

On a positive note, goalkeeper Danny Rogers had initially been ruled out for six weeks with damaged vertebrae but could be ahead of scheduled having returned to light training.

On the whole, though, Latics injury nightmare has been a huge source of frustration to Curle.

"The medical examinations - we look at how many minutes they have been training, their game data. The injuries and the illness, some of them you can't do anything about," he said.

"It's all about those eight words - it is what it is, deal with it - and that's what we do."