Sunderland’s defence have suffered a double blow with injuries to both Dion Sanderson and Tom Flanagan…
FLANAGAN
“There’s been quite a bit of negativity from the physio based on that third opinion we had,” said Johnson. “They’re going to treat it as a bone issue with the foot, although they still haven’t decided on the course of remedy. It could be an injection; it could be time or it could be a potential operation. I think we’ll probably go down the injection route to try to sniff out this problem that is leading to the mechanics of the left side of his body being completely different. That’s why he then pulled his left hamstring and had problems with his left hip flexor as well. It all stems from the original broken foot.”
SANDERSON
“It’s difficult news because he’s (Sanderson) not going to be right in the short term. It is best-case scenario in terms of there not being a fracture, but there’s a potential onset for a fracture with the pain. To be fair, he’s been struggling to get through the last couple of games, but I think he showed his warrior spirit by wanting to play and actually playing. You may have caught him wincing on four or five occasions, and it got too much to be able to manage through therapy.
SCAN
“He had a scan, and that was best-case scenario because it showed no stress fracture, which was good. But he’s going to need some form of rest and recuperation period to heal and get rid of the inflammation. Obviously, he’s not our player, so we’ve got to consider the open lines of communication with Wolves. But Dion’s opinion matters hugely, and his opinion is that he is very much up for the fight and frustrated by this. It’s a setback, but it’s not fatal and it’s not final for this season.”
