The Black Cats will play a struggling Stoke City away at the Bet365 Stadium following the international break, trying to put the huge loss to Boro behind them, and it appears that head coach Tony Mowbray will have a deeper team to select from.
The Sunderland Echo has offered an update on the squad following today’s training at the Academy of Light, with several first-team players returning to action in preparation for the clash against the Potters next week.
Summer commitment Bradley Dack has not played for Sunderland since before the international break due to a hamstring injury. Mowbray said that Dack could have returned sooner, but they decided to keep him out for a little longer to ensure a thorough recovery. [From the Sunderland Echo]:
“What we were a bit afraid about is that if he continued playing, he’d have made it worse so we made the call to take him out of the situation for a couple of weeks, let him fully recover and do his strengthening so it is fine when he comes back.”
Dack is now back in training with the rest of the squad, as is Pierre Ekwah, who had been out for the past five games due to a’really serious hematoma and dead leg,’ as revealed by Mowbray two weeks ago. Both men could be available to face Stoke City in nine days.
Furthermore, defender Dennis Cirkin and playmaker Alex Pritchard have been spotted practising with the team.
Author’s Opinion
These four players returning will be crucial for Mowbray and Sunderland, since each brings something unique to the team as well as an abundance of quality.
The Black Cats have done well in their absence to achieve results, but now having the four in training is a huge lift for the boss ahead of the remaining matchups in the run-up to Christmas.
