Alex Pritchard urges patience in Ross Stewart Sunderland return
Alex Pritchard has backed the decision to delay the return of Ross Stewart, saying the Sunderland striker is too ‘massive’ a player to be risked.
Stewart has been missing since the start of September when he injured his thigh in the warm-up at Middlesbrough.
He has now missed 14 of Sunderland’s 21 Championship games this season, although he has now returned to full training.
Boss Tony Mowbray resisted the temptation to even name him on the bench against Millwall, but that decision has been endorsed by Pritchard, who said: "You have to be careful with Ross.
"Ross knows himself he's champing at the bit to get back but on the other hand the boy has been out for - how long? He's obviously got to be careful but Ross is a massive player for us, everyone knows that, and he'll be back soon."
The decision to delay Ross Stewart’s return was vindicated by the fine win against Millwall, who arrived at the Stadium of Light as one of the form teams in the division.
It was Pritchard who unlocked the Lions’ defence to create the all-important opening goal before scoring the second himself, and he said no one should under-estimate how good a result it was.
"Obviously it makes you feel good," Pritchard said. "You come off the pitch, you're happy, you’ve got three points and that was the main thing.
"Getting the first back-to-back wins this season puts us back up the table. It was a tough game, they didn't make it horrible, that's what they do and are really good at it.
"Look where they are in the table, they are above us. They are a really good team in good form and we knew coming into the game it was going to be a really tough game.
"Patto (Anthony Patterson] made some good saves, DB (Danny Batth) was solid at the back, the boys at the back were solid. Dan Neil cleared one off the line so it could have gone either way.
"We're not setting any targets. It's a team game and there are going to be diamonds in the rough and if the team is doing well boys are going to shine."
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