An injury update for Sunderland has been released by Mike Dodds before of the team’s final two Championship games.
Dennis Cirkin has made significant progress in his rehabilitation this week, but Mike Dodds has acknowledged that Sunderland is unlikely to see any of its injured players return before the season is out.
After an injury-plagued season, Cirkin hasn’t appeared on the field for the Black Cats since November. Dodds reports that the 22-year-old is back in full training, but he acknowledged that it might be too risky to try to get him back before the season ends next Saturday. It is also quite improbable that Nazariy Rusyn will play in the remaining two games.
“Dennis is back training with the group but it might be a little tight for him,” Dodds stated.
“Because he has now been out for such a long time, we will all have to decide whether to engage him [against Sheffield Wednesday] once he is unavailable this weekend. He started full training with us earlier this week; we’ll see how he trains next week and proceed from there.
“Nazariy had his first part-training session with us today, so he won’t be available on Saturday and next weekend might be too soon.”
Following their recent injury setbacks, Dan Neil, Jay Matete, and Elliott Embleton ought to be available for the start of the preseason.
“I think both Elliot and Jay will both be back fit for when we return for pre-season,” Dodds stated.
“Dan Neil has also had a serious ankle injury, but we think he will be well. We believe that when the preseason begins, all three players ought to be on the field.”