Matthews fit to bolster the options for Coleman
Adam Matthews is set to hand Sunderland boss Chris Coleman an injury boost as he closes in on a first-team return.
Matthews missed last week’s 3-3 draw at Bristol City due to a calf problem, but he has returned to training and has an outside chance of making the squad for Saturday’s visit of Brentford.
The 26-year-old hopes that second-half comeback at Ashton Gate can help overcome any mental fragility the squad has suffered with this season.
The Black Cats are yet to win a league game in which they conceded the first goal.
Speaking at the Coral Sunderland AFC golf challenge yesterday, Matthews said: “It was just a small calf strain, I’ve trained today, I’ll have another session and then hopefully all goes well and I’ll be back in the squad Saturday. If not, then definitely Tuesday (at Bolton).
“We showed in the last 25 minutes [at Ashton Gate] that we can be a good team, but we can’t just do it in little spells, we have to do it for 90 minutes.
“I think it is just belief really, you have to not panic. It has happened a lot this season, conceding a couple of goals in fiveminute spells.
“I think the panic just sets in really and I think that just comes from where we are in the table. Hopefully coming back, like we did at Bristol City, will change that and give us that belief.
“First and foremost, you wanttostoptheotherteamfrom scoring, but it’s football, sometimes it will happen. If they do, hopefullythecomebackwillgive us that belief if it does happen that we can get back into it.”
Matthews is enjoying life under Coleman and believes the team are improving on the whole. He said: “I’ve enjoyed all my time at Sunderland, but obviously this year has been a little bit different and hopefully I’ve changed a lot of people’s opinions.
“The manager wants the full-backs to get forward and I think it suits me – it’s the biggest strength in my game and, if anything, I need to work on the defensive side.
“I think he [Coleman] has been brilliant. You can see the change in the team. For the most part we’ve been a much more solid team – we can be more threatening going forward but hopefully we can find the balance. When we do, we will be a hard team to beat.”