Tony Mowbray has admitted that a number of Sunderland players did not train earlier today ahead of the team’s trip to the King Power Stadium tomorrow to take on runaway Championship leaders Leicester City.
The Black Cats suffered a disappointing defeat to Stoke City at the weekend which succeeded a dismal 4-0 home loss against Middlesbrough prior to the international break. The result meant that Mowbray’s men dropped from fourth to sixth in the table.
Things could go from bad to worse tomorrow night too as Sunderland face Enzo Maresca’s Leicester City who are on a seven-game winning streak and are walking away with the title at the moment.
To further pile on Sunderland fans’ anguish, the head coach has revealed that up to four players did not train today with the first team, but remained tight-lipped over whether these same players would feature tomorrow in the East Midlands.
“There’s three or four players who didn’t train today – we’ll see how they are ahead of the game,” Mowbray said, according to the club’s official Twitter/X page.
Sunderland have been riddled with injury problems this season and there are already a whole host of names sidelined, including Corry Evans, who is not expected to return until the new year. Meanwhile, Ajibola Alese, Jay Matete and Dennis Cirkin are not expected to return until November, as disclosed by Sunderland AFC News.
The club confirmed on social media that Cirkin did take part in a game with the U21s this afternoon as the defender edges closer to a return to action.
Writer’s View
Beating Leicester City, or even earning a draw at the King Power Stadium, will be hard enough for Sunderland but will prove to be even more challenging without some key first-team players.
Nonetheless, Mowbray was wise not to reveal the names of the four players that didn’t train as it would only give Leicester City an edge in their preparation for the game.
