Wright in comeback contention for Cats’ Latics trip
SUNDERLAND could have central defender Bailey Wright available for tonight’s League One clash with Wigan Athletic.
The Australian has not featured since the EFL Trophy clash with Lincoln back in February but is in contention for a place in the squad at the DW Stadium – if needed.
Black Cats head coach Lee Johnson revealed last week Wright was a close to a return after recovering from a torn calf muscle and hinted he could get some game time for the under23s – unless he was needed for tonight’s first-team game.
However, he was not in the squad for their 3-2 Premier League Two defeat to West Bromwich Albion yesterday, raising hopes he could be involved at Wigan.
Speaking before the defeat by Charlton, Johnson said: “The good thing is the injury has healed.
“That’s the most important thing because you don’t want to put a player out with a muscle injury when he could potentially not get through a game.
“He has lost a lot of training time, a lot of match time, but for a centrehalf maybe you don’t need quite so many minutes in the tank as you would if you were a forward or a central midfielder and of course he is an experienced player.
“The aim is probably to have a look at giving him some minutes for the under-23s on Monday but again that will depend on our need ahead of the Tuesday game at Wigan.
“He is in a really good place and you always want Bailey Wright fit because he is a top, top character and he is as good as it gets as a human being – and not only that, he is a very good player.”
Tom Flanagan could be given more time to recover from a chipped bone in his foot and a hamstring issue, although he could play through the pain if the Black Cats needed him.
However, with Luke O’Nien and Dion Sanderson in such good form, they are unlikely to rush the Northern Ireland international back.
Jake Vokins is still a few weeks away from returning but Denver Hume could be in line for his first start after successive appearances from the bench against Peterborough and Charlton.
Jordan Jones and Ross Stewart are pushing for a recall after starting the Charlton game on the bench, with Aiden O’Brien and Lynden Gooch potentially making way if Johnson decides to shuffle his pack.
Wigan could have Callum Lang available again after he missed their 4-1 win over Doncaster as a precaution following a head injury against Portsmouth on Easter Monday.
The striker has hit seven goals since he returned from a productive loan spell at Motherwell in the first part of the season.
However, Wigan are still without Gavin Massey, Scott Wootton, Kyle Joseph and Tom Pearce, while Chris Merrie remains a doubt.
Meanwhile, Latics’ forward Thelo Aasgaard ‘can’t wait’ for the visit of Sunderland tonight as the hosts try to mount a late League One survival bid.
“I can’t wait for Tuesday,” he said following the win over Doncaster.
“It’ll be a huge game and every game is a cup final for us now and we need to find them three points and get those points together which will keep us in this league.
“We have our targets and scored our goals, it’s up to us now to execute them now.”
Aasgard felt the win over Doncaster was just reward following a series of better performances which haven’t brought the results they felt they deserved.
He added: “It’s a huge performance for us in the circumstances that we are in.
“Credit to the lads, we’ve been working so hard in training on shape work and on tactics. I’m so proud of the lads.
“It’s been frustrating when you’re putting such good performance in but not quite getting the results and not putting the ball in the back of the net. It shows the persistence this team has. We’ll never give up and we’ll fight until the end.”