SARACENS fans may have to wait until after Christmas for their first sighting of Andy Farrell in action after the former Great Britain rugby league captain underwent surgery on his troublesome toe this week.

Farrell, signed in March on a three-year deal jointly funded by the RFU, underwent the surgeon's knife on Wednesday to solve the deep bone bruising to the second toe on his right foot that has sidelined him since the middle of last month.

The injury, sustained in a training match, is set to keep the 30-year-old out of action for a further eight weeks, leaving him only the Guinness A League game against Harlequins on Monday, December 5, to get some match practice under his belt before director of rugby Steve Diamond can consider handing him his full union debut.

"Andy is hugely disappointed," said Diamond. "He is very competitive and a leader of men and it was a huge career move for him. But he's here for three years and in it for the long haul and two months will fly past and then we'll have him back with us. But at least now we know what it is and it has been repaired. The problem before was that we could not really diagnose what was wrong with it."

Added head coach Mike Ford: "We're obviously disappointed that Andy has been ruled out for a further period of time. But now he's had the surgery, we're pleased that the healing process has begun and we look forward to welcoming him back on the pitch."