Wednesday kept in the dark over injury to on-loan Broadhead

ALEX Neil is determined to keep Sheffield Wednesday in the dark as far as Nathan Broadhead’s fitness is concerned ahead of tonight’s play-off sem-final.

In-form striker Broadhead limped out of Sunderland’s final game of the season at the weekend, shortly after scoring the only goal in the win at Morecambe.

With Broadhead (right) having already missed a significant chunk of the season with a hamstring injury, his latest problem immediately sparked fears the on-loan Everton man could miss out on the play-off games .

That would leave Sunderland with just one senior centre-forward in Ross Stewart.

The Black Cats boss always keeps his cards close to his chest as far as injuries are concerned and he was in no mood to give Owls’ boss Darren Moore any clues over whether Broadhead could be involved in the play-off semi-final first leg at the Stadium of Light tonight. He expects Moore to adopt a similar approach with Barry Bannan, who was substituted last weekend with a muscle injury, although he believes the influential midfielder will be fit to play.

Neil said: “We will make a call on Broady. I am sure they will be cagey with Bannan, making out he is not going to be fit as well – he will be fit!”

Sunderland go into the game on the back of a 13-game unbeaten run which saw them finish fifth in League One, one place and one point behind Wednesday. The second leg of the semi-final will take place on Monday.