Sunderland injury curse continues but defender back in contention for Luton showdown

The astonishing injury curse that has blighted Sunderland all season shows now signs of abating, with two key players major doubts for the play-offs second leg clash with Luton.

Patrick Roberts and Alex Pritchard both limped off against the Hatters as Sunderland closed out a 2-1 win, and the quick turnaround between games means both are struggling to be fit for Kenilworth Road.

“Pritchard and Roberts are touch and go, I would suggest,” Mowbray said. “They might both make it, they both might not make it, or one might make it, we’ll have to wait and see.

“I sit here today not really knowing. One of them trained today, one of them didn’t, so let’s see if there’s a reaction.

“The other one is saying, ‘In 24 hours I should be better’. Let’s see how things are tomorrow.”

One small glimmer of light for Sunderland is a potential return for defender Aji Alese.

The former West Ham man has not played for ten weeks but he has now resumed training. Alese could provide some potentially vital height for Sunderland if needed, but Mowbray says he has zero chance of starting the game.

“Alese trained today, which is good,” he said. “I’ve discussed with him about maybe being on the bench. He’s a six foot three kid who can run up and down all day, so maybe we’ll get him on the pitch if they’re chasing a goal and putting things into our box.

“It would be good to have someone over the height of six foot in there to be able to head it out.

“We’re not too far away from what we were the other day, but it’s good to have Alese and [Niall] Huggins back training.”

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