Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray has confirmed that he will be missing Pierre Ekwah and Bradley Dack for tomorrow’s Championship match against Sheffield Wednesday.
Ekwah suffered a dead leg in the game against Queens Park Rangers earlier this month, while Dack has been out since tearing a hamstring in the 5-0 win over Southampton.
Last Saturday, Cardiff City defied the odds to win 1-0 at the Stadium of Light, ending the Black Cats’ five-match unbeaten run. Despite being expected to return, both players did not play in the game.
There was a hope that they could recover sufficiently to travel to Hillsborough tomorrow, but Mowbray is insistent that he will not rush them back in order to avoid any potential reoccurence down the line. Speaking to the media ahead of the clash, via Chronicle Live, the 59-year-old said;
“I don’t think either of them will make it for tomorrow, not because they’re so far away.”
“It’s just that we want to make sure they’re right so they don’t break down when they come back, especially with Bradley because we know hamstring injuries are dangerous and can reoccur.” We just have to accept that Pierre has a massive hematoma and a dead leg.
“It was just unfortunate that he took that knock in the same spot where his movement has been restricted.” There’s a slim chance he’ll be free flowing by Friday night.”
Mowbray then addressed their availability for next Wednesday’s game against Watford.
“How about next Wednesday?” At this point, I’m not sure; it’s a day-to-day thing. It’s annoying because it has a knock-on effect; we have so many attacking midfielders and I’d want to be able to rotate, but we’re simply not quite there yet.”
Summer signing Nazariy Rusyn might make his debut after making his debut from the bench last week, and the Ukrainian impressed even more during an appearance with the under-21 side earlier this week.
Tony Mowbray will be disappointed that the pair are still absent, but he believes Sunderland have the quality to beat the Championship’s worst club.
Although they lost last Saturday, the outcome did not reflect the game fairly, and Cardiff were perhaps fortunate to leave the Stadium of Light with three points. The manager has stated that he would like to rotate his squad, implying that changes are on the way, and Rusyn will be aiming for his first start.
Abdoullah Ba’s form has also kept Patrick Roberts out of the lineup in recent weeks, but expect the former England under-20 international to reclaim his starting berth here.
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