Corry Evans has explained what he was ‘guilty’ of doing during his lengthy spell on the sidelines at Sunderland.
Corry Evans had been a key figure since Sunderland were promoted in 2022, captaining the side as they enjoyed a brilliant first season back in the Championship.
However, he wasn’t to know that his time at the club would effectively be over when he pulled up early on during the Black Cats’ win over Middlesbrough in January 2023.
It was later confirmed that the midfielder had suffered an ACL injury and would be out of action for some time.
Sunderland initially extended his contract last summer with the expectation to see him back on the pitch at some point this season, but his comeback seemed to take a lot longer than expected.
While it had been reported that he could return at the end of 2023, setbacks meant that Evans didn’t return to training until the end of February, while he was unable to make a senior appearance until April.
The 33-year-old had very little time to fight for his place back in the squad, and was subsequently released by Sunderland at the end of his contract.
Evans has now admitted what he was ‘guilty’ of doing during his injury rehab, which may have cost him dearly.
Corry Evans ‘pushed so hard’ for comeback
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Evans said: “I should have been back earlier, but I rushed things towards the end and that set me back.
“I was able to get my head around the injury, it was all the setbacks that killed me.
“I was guilty of pushing myself too hard on the training pitch because I was too desperate to get back to playing.
“You have to tick a lot of boxes along the way. You have to prove you’re fit enough to train and then fit enough to play.
“I pushed so hard to get back with the lads, I got muscle injuries that set you back two weeks.
“And those two weeks become four weeks, and four weeks turns into six weeks. That happened more than once. And it all adds up.”
Sunderland now to get their Evans replacement right
If Corry Evans had been unable to return to action much earlier, then Sunderland’s season could have ended very differently.
The Black Cats were in desperate need of a leader and, at times, Dan Neil was the only one shifting his weight in the middle of the park.
Evans could have been the model professional that the club were really lacking, and that was also the reason that many expected him to stay beyond this summer.
The Wearside outfit opted to offload him though and that won’t go down very well with the fans if the club don’t bring in a similar replacement.
Sunderland need to start looking at experienced midfielders in the Championship to firm things up and add some leadership to an extremely inexperienced squad.
It’s not about attractive names and huge potential all the time, sometimes the club just needs a steady eddy.