Lee Johnson has given an update on several of his squad’s fitness levels as we head into Saturday’s contest with Accrington Stanley at the Stadium of Light.
The Head Coach first discussed the potential of Aiden McGeady returning at the weekend, after missing Tuesday’s draw at Hull City with foot swelling.
“I think I would rate him as a 50/50 chance,” Johnson claimed.
“It’s still very bruised, but at the same time it’s a superficial injury – not ligament or bone-related – and of course he wants to play.”
“If he feels he can still hit a ball from 25 yards – hopefully into the top corner – then he can play.”
With defensive options limited for the Black Cats throughout recent months, Johnson also delivered the latest on Tom Flanagan and Conor McLaughlin’s respective foot and hernia injuries.
“We had the third opinion and we’ve come back around to some good news on Flanno.
“It’s a case of cracking on with it now for him, and he’s out on the grass with the rehab guys at the moment. He’s been fitted with some orthotics, and it’s like a race against time to get him fit as we know how important he can be to us.
“We have the same with Conor, another very important player, and having those two back gives us the flexibility to be able to push Luke [O’Nien] or Max [Power] into midfield – enabling us to work towards the energy levels in our press that we’ve tried to build.”
With the importance of getting players back fit for the final run-in, the Head Coach then confirmed Jake Vokins is back on the grass after a heart murmur was cleared of any issue by specialists.
Johnson also revealed Arbenit Xhemajli – out of action since October – is back in light training, but is not expected to be rushed into a return before the end of this season.
“Any player back is very welcome. We’ve got Jake as well who has trained and looked sharp. The smaller players in stature tend to get match fit quicker than the bigger lads.
“Arby is out on the grass – it’s really nice to see him out there. When I came into the football club, I did my research and statistically, he came out as the best defender in the division. He’s a player I’ve been looking forward to seeing, and I didn’t know the extent of his injury until I got into the building.
“He’s not ‘close’ to a return, but if we can get him some minutes in pre-season, then that would be a good fast-track in terms of his recuperation.”