Fit-again Cats set to give boss Grayson a real boost
SIMON Grayson is close to being able to name his best XI as Sunderland prepare for the first of their crucial back-to-back home games.
The Black Cats take on Bristol City at the Stadium of Light today.
With Paddy McNair returning to the squad for the first time after 11 months out with a knee injury, Marc Wilson fit again after three weeks out with a hamstring problem and Jonny Williams also having recovered from a hamstring niggle, Grayson says this is the strongest pool of players he has had to pick from all season.
Ty Browning is the only firstteamer ruled out, having yet to recover from his hamstring injury, but Grayson says Callum McManaman is fit despite suffering a slight thigh problem earlier in the week.
He said: “Ty Browning we are probably ruling out for the weekend, Callum McManaman just felt his thigh on Monday but has trained the last two days.
“We have everyone else available. Paddy McNair, Marc Wilson and Jonny Williams have all trained – in terms of the availability we are probably the strongest we hvae been which gives us options and strength in depth.”
Grayson has a clear idea of his best team but has so far been unable to get that firstchoice XI out on the pitch, although he says that moment is now closer than at any time this season.
He said: “We are not far away from getting that best team out.
“Marc Wilson has not played any competitive football since Ipswich, so that would be nearly three weeks, so I would not say he is match fit, and whether he is in the 18 or not we will have to see.
“He will need a game before he can start.
“Other than that, everyone is raring to go and whoever starts on Saturday will have the shirt, and if they play well they will keep it on Tuesday against Bolton and hopefully against Middlesbrough next weekend.” McNair has been sidelined since rupturing his cruciate ligament in November but has had three outings for the under-23s this month, playing 45 minutes against Hertha Berlin and Arsenal and an hour against Everton - and is now ready to be eased back into first-team action. Grayson added: “He wll be around the first-team squad, he will not play on Sunday for the under-23s.
“He will not start the game – I will see where we are in terms of whether he is on the bench – but he has had two weeks training with us and he has had a bit of game time.
“He is in a similar situation to Duncan Watmore was – in terms of the timescale we are not going to be able to give him a full 90 minutes before he is involved in the first team.
“Sometimes you just have to bring a player back in because he is a good player who might affect the team.
“Whether that is tomorrow or on Tuesday we will wait and see.
“Paddy has physical presence, he will go box-to-box and he looks like he has a goal in him, too.
“He will be another good option for us, whether he is selected for the 18 or the starting XI. People need to realise that, like Duncan, he will not be playing every minute of every game, Saturday-Tuesday, as we will have to manage him to make sure there are no repercussions from his knee injury.”
Teenage striker Josh Maja was due to make his return from a knee injury for the under-23s at Everton last week but suffered a minor setback in the warm-up, which means he will not be considered for tomorrow’s game against Manchester United at Eppleton - although he is due to resume training next week.
Grayson said: “It is nothing serious – he has been doing work with the physios. He will not play on Sunday but we would expect him to be training after the weekend.”
We’re probably the strongest we’ve been which gives us options and strength in depth Simon Grayson