Ross hopes injured are fit to face Pompey

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 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 warm-up 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 warm up,” 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.”