Injured trio should be fine to take on leaders
JACK Ross is hopeful Reece James and Tom Flanagan will be fit to face league leaders Portsmouth next weekend after they were forced out of Sunderland’s win over Bristol Rovers.
And the Black Cats boss is also keeping his fingers crossed that goalkeeper Jon Mclaughlin will recover in time for the trip to the South Coast after he went off 15 minutes from time with a back injury against the Pirates.
James was due to start against Rovers but picked up an ankle injury in the warmup and has replaced by Bryan Oviedo, while Flanagan suffered a knock in the midweek FA Cup defeat against Walsall which ruled him out this afternoon.
“It was an ankle injury Reece suffered in the warmup,” said Ross.
“It shouldn’t be too bad and hopefully it will be no longer than a few days.
“It was a bit like with Chris [Maguire] at Walsall a couple of weeks ago when he was injured in the warm-up, when you have any concerns about that I would prefer to make the change prior to kick-off than in the first 10 minutes because, as you could see during the game, you can have unforeseen things happen like having to change your goalkeeper which restricts you in terms of the subs you can make.
“Tom got a knock against Walsall and he has taken a bit longer to recover from it than we thought.
“I would be hopeful that he will have a chance for next weekend, although it is not definite.”
Mclaughlin was struggling with his back injury for some time before ultimately deciding to come off as a precaution, with Robbin Ruiter taking his place.
Ross said: “Jon is OK. He suffered a back spasm early in the half and it is one where he could possibly have continued but he is experienced enough and sensible enough to realise that it might have affected his ability to make a save in the game.
“I think with injuries like that it was the right thing to do for him to come off.
“Again, I’m hopeful it won’t rule him out for too long.”
With Portsmouth held to a draw at Barnsley, third-placed Sunderland’s win over Rovers closed the gap between the sides to five points. Luton are second, a point ahead of Sunderland, but the Black Cats have two games in hand over both the Hatters and Pompey.