Sunderland coach issues quintuple injury update – and brief Ahmed Abdullahi explanationplaceholder image
Sunderland coach issues quintuple injury update – and brief Ahmed Abdullahi explanation | Chris Fryatt
Sunderland coach Graeme Murty outlines fitness news on five players – including Ahmed Abdullahi’s situation
Graeme Murty offered a detailed update on several Sunderland U21s players after the Black Cats produced a dominant 7–1 win over Athletic Bilbao in the Premier League International Cup.
While the night saw Dan Neil, Luke O’Nien and Dennis Cirkin all build minutes in front of Régis Le Bris, Murty also addressed a number of injury situations within his squad. He confirmed that Zak Johnson is still being assessed after suffering what he called a “really bad” concussion in the recent game against Nottingham Forest. “Zak Johnson got a concussion against Nottingham Forest – a really bad one – so he's under medical review,” Murty said. The club will not rush his return to action.
Harrison Jones remains on track, having been training with the first team in recent days. The midfielder’s non-inclusion against Athletic Bilbao sparked rumours the academy player could be injured, but Murty quashed that school of thought. Murty said: “Harrison's just trained with the first team and we've got more games coming up. So, the plan for him is to play possibly later on..” Forward Ahmed Abdullahi is also being monitored closely, with Murty adding: “Ahmed Abdullahi is with the first-team medical staff.” However, the Sunderland U21 lead coach did not disclose the nature of the striker’s issue.
Murty also provided a significant update on Luke Bell, who is recovering from a major knee injury sustained towards the back end of last season. He stressed the defender has thrown himself into analysis work behind the scenes while he remains unavailable for selection. “It's a significant trauma to his knee, I have to say,” Murty explained. “Luke has spent an inordinate amount of time poring over video, analysing our opponents, and he's working really closely with our analysis group on our upcoming opponents. I have to say, he's fantastic at it. He's a real asset to the club.”
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Bell has even stepped forward to deliver match briefings to his peers. Murty said: “Luke took the big step in front of that peer group of delivering the pre-brief, which is quite daunting, but he's got a really good eye. We want to make sure we continue our players' education, even though he's not able to go on the pitch at the minute. I think it's really important we make his time at the club valuable and impactful, and he's embraced it really well.”
Midfielder Elias Lenz is also on the comeback trail following hamstring surgery. Murty said: “He's had a hamstring issue, he's had surgery on his hamstring. We're just being really careful with him. He's going to be graduating into managed contact next week on the pitch, whatever that is. It's a step after non-contact, but he's desperate to be involved, and he's coming into a group that have a really good feeling about him, which I think makes that integration all the easier.”
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