Break will help fringe players
Oviedo set for match time in a practice game during break
Jack Ross is planning another practice game to keep his Sunderland fringe players fresh for the League One run-in.
The Black Cats are next in action when they face Portsmouth in the Checkatrade trophy final, before a punishing April schedule sees them play eight times.
Ross recently organised a game against a Carlisle United XI to ensure that the likes of Dylan McGeouch and Alim Ozturk can stay match fit.
He will do the same during the current break, while ensuring his recent regulars get the necessary rest.
“It’s a bit of a fractured week with some players on international duty,” Ross said.
“We’ll have a bounce game which will allow some players to maintain match fitness for the games coming up.
“We’ll have a few days off as well to allow them to recharge for the games coming up after the cup final.
“It’s a bit different for us in terms of the whole structure of the week, but it’s designed in a way that will hopefully help the players physically and mentally to enjoy the leas-up to the cup final, hopefully win the cup final and then the period after that.
The main beneficiary of that game could be Bryan Oviedo.
The left back has not featured since a deadline day move to West Brom collapsed, and has suffered a raft of minor injuries since then.
He is training again but a lack of match fitness has put him behind Reece James, Adam Matthews and Denver Hume in the pecking order.
Matthews picked up a hamstring injury in the 2-1 win over Walsall, but Ross does not think it is serious.
“[Bryan] is just lacking match-fitness but hopefully we’ll address that this week,” Ross said.
Ross praised McGeouch and Ozturk for their patience during a campaign that has been frustrating at times, and backed them to take any chance to shine between now and the end of the season.
“Players like Dylan and Alim, their attitude and application in terms of how they’ve trained has been brilliant,” Ross said.
“I take a lot of pride in that.
“It doesn’t guarantee you winning games and it doesn’t guarantee success but the culture here is good now, it’s a good group.
“If someone was to take this group from me tomorrow then they’d say, this group does things right,” he added.
“Players like Dylan deserve a huge amount of credit and I hope they get the opportunity because my opinion of him as a player has not changed.
“It’s just that Grant has come and his form has been good.”
Above all else, Ross is welcoming the chance for a breather before the final stretch of the campaign.
“This is the last opportunity to get any period of rest into the players because there’s no doubt that’s going to be tough for us as a club,” he said.
“That’s challenging, I don’t care what anybody says.
“We believe we’re good enough to deal with it but we need every single person to contribute.
“It’s the last chance to take a breath.
“I told the players to clear their heads because for the next couple of weeks there’s nothing we can do about the league. Let’s enjoy the rest, enjoy the lead-up to the final and the final itself because that’s something that as a whole club we should enjoy.”