Ahead of this weekend’s trip to Millwall, Sunderland have been boosted by the potential return of Alex Pritchard and Dennis Cirkin who are travelling with the team to West London.
Cirkin has been out of action since the Boxing Day win over Blackburn Rovers while Alex Pritchard, who has been overcoming a calf problem, was forced off in the second half of the Lads 4-1 victory over Wigan Athletic at the back end of December.
However, as Tony Mowbray’s side head to The Den on Saturday for their latest Sky Bet Championship tie, he is hopeful of having options to choose from after the pair’s return to full training this week.
“They have joined in all week” said the Head Coach. “They are just about there. They are both coming with us and jumping on the coach.”
Mowbray is approaching the side of caution with Pritchard who will be put through his paces today before the team travel to Millwall.
He continued: “In Pritch’s mind, we will talk after today. If he gets through today, he will have had a full week’s training. If possible, we don’t want to repeat what he did last time when he came back a day or two early because he was so desperate to get back involved.
“In our minds, he is front end of the pitch type of footballer and the more of us we have got of them available. Hopefully he is ready to go again.”
Meanwhile, the boss has offered an update on the fitness of Lynden Gooch who is working towards full fitness.
Mowbray added: “He is two or three weeks away I think. He is not ready yet. It won’t be a few weeks until he is probably out on the grass.”