One Sunderland star may now be sidelined for the rest of the season.
Sunderland have been frustrated by injuries this term, and it’s certainly not for the first time.
Their poor injury record arguably contributed to their failure to reach the play-off final this time last year, having been forced to play Patrick Roberts at right-back in their second leg defeat to Luton Town.
While most of their form has been their own doing, the Black Cats definitely haven’t been helped by their constant need for the medical staff this time round either.
Niall Huggins, Dennis Cirkin, Jenson Seelt, Aji Alese, Corry Evans, Elliot Embleton, Jack Clarke and Bradley Dack have all suffered with lengthy injuries at some stage of the campaign.
While a number of key players look to be gradually returning before the end of the campaign, there is one star who we may not see until pre-season in the summer.
Nazariy Rusyn has been out of action since making a cameo in the 4-2 defeat to Southampton last month.
25-year-old isn’t even ‘close’ to full fitness
The Ukrainian striker has now missed four games in a row in the Championship, and Mike Dodds has now provided a worrying update on his fitness.
Speaking in today’s press conference (via Sunderland Echo), Dodds said: “He’s not close. He was out on the grass running today but he’s not with the group. He’s still going to be a couple of weeks and will probably be touch and go whether he’s back for the Sheffield Wednesday game.”
That means we could potentially see him sidelined for a further month, will Sunderland set to host Sheffield Wednesday on the final day of the season.
Why Nazariy Rusyn could be tempted by Sunderland exit
Nazariy Rusyn has only scored two goals for the Black Cats, but was seen as the club’s best striker before he got injured – though that shows the standard we have set.
While he struggled to find the back of the net, he was easily the liveliest and most inspiring of our three current forwards.
Given that we don’t really have anything to play for now, the remaining games could have been a good opportunity for Rusyn to get some goals and prepare for next year.
However, his absence only feels like a huge step backwards for the ‘excellent‘ 25-year-old.
Sunderland will surely look to bring in a proven goalscorer this summer and that could see Rusyn fall down the pecking order.
I wouldn’t blame him if he was considering his future at the club, but I would much rather see him pick up minutes on the pitch next season than Luis Hemir Semedo or Eliezer Mayenda.