Sunderland’s Dan Ballard has picked up an injury while away on international duty with Northern Ireland
Sunderland have a new injury issue ahead of their trip to Plymouth this weekend, with defender Dan Ballard suffering an injury while on international duty.
Ballard played the entire 90 minutes of Northern Ireland’s 4-0 Euro 2024 qualifying loss to Finland on Friday night in Helsinki, but manager Michael O’Neill has since stated the 24-year-old had a hamstring injury.
The injury will be evaluated this morning ahead of Northern Ireland’s final qualifier against Denmark this evening in Belfast. With nothing riding on Northern Ireland’s game tonight – they cannot qualify for next summer’s tournament – there is no reason for Ballard to play if he is not totally healthy.
The bigger question for Sunderland manager Tony Mowbray is whether he will be fit to play against the Pilgrims at Home Park on Saturday.
Sunderland entered the international break with a 3-1 victory over Birmingham City at the Stadium of Light, despite the absence of their first-choice central defensive partnership of Ballard and Luke O’Nien.
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