Gooch and Flanagan could make Cats return
Lee Johnson expects his Sunderland squad to be bolstered by the return of two key senior players to fitness this week.
Both Lynden Gooch and Tom Flanagan have an outside chanceofmakingthesquadtonight when the Black Cats face IpswichTowninagamecrucial to their promotion ambitions.
Gooch has been absent in recentgamesaftertestingpositive for Covid-19 the day before the 3-0 win over AFC Wimbledon. He has been asymptomatic, but his self-isolation period only ends on Tuesday and as such, Johnson may well be cautious in managing his workload.
Flanagan has been absent withabrokenmetatarsal,butis also on the brink of returning.
That news further boosted Johnson's mood as he reflected on an often difficult but ultimately crucial 1-0 win over Shrewsbury Town.
"I'vegottheoptionto[freshen team up for Ipswich],” he said. "We're not a million miles away from having Tom Flanagan back, which is good.
Lynden Gooch comes into contention for that game, although he only comes out of isolationonTuesday.Hemight be able to be on the bench if we needed him to.
"We're getting a set of players who are fit. It's a tough league and a tough team.
"You saw against Shrewsbury that as the pitch cut up, everyonewasleggy.Sometimes the entertainment factor falls awayabitbutatthesametime, everyone will have had that nice feeling of three points."
Luke O'Nien made his return from injury in that win, playing the final minutes in a midfieldrole.Itwashisfirstappearance under Johnson.
“Hopefully, Luke came through unscathed and will be ready to go to Ipswich."