Tony Mowbray, the manager of Sunderland, has released an injury update.
Alex Pritchard is a huge doubt for Middlesbrough’s visit to the Stadium of Light on Saturday after suffering a calf strain during Sunderland’s win over Watford.
Pritchard has a small calf strain and, while he has not been ruled out, head coach Tony Mowbray believes he will not take any risks with the crucial attacking midfielder having a two-week break to recover.
Mowbray does not anticipate any of his currently injured players to recover for Saturday’s game, but the vast majority are expected to return after the break.
“Pritch is probably is unlikely for the weekend, he’s got a slight calf strain,” Mowbray said.
“Calf strains are really delicate things; if you gamble, you’re probably going to have a calf that tears rather than a little niggle, and it’ll be touch and go whether he makes it.”
“I’ll talk to him, and if he feels fine…
“The scan was very minimal, but it showed damage, so we decided it was best if he left it.” There will be an international break, but we haven’t decided on a date yet; we’ll see how he feels and trains.”
Mowbray’s choice may be eased by Abdoullah Ba’s return to the starting XI against Watford, as the winger continued his good recent form.
With Ba’s return, Patrick Roberts moved into the number 10 spot normally held by Pritchard.
“He’s got wonderful athleticism,” Mowbray added.
“I’m happy for him because he’s broken through any barrier of trying to disrupt Roberts or Clarke every week.”
“Every week, it was the same team. On the right side of the pitch, we had Amad performing his job. I think he’s a threat now; he’s strong in the air and has a great spring.
“He can run all day, he’s fast, mobile. He just has to work on his end product. He scored today so that’s an answer to the question of us needing to see more assists and goal efforts.”
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