As they look to maintain their Championship top spot, there’s reportedly a growing belief inside Sunderland that one defender could make his return to Regis Le Bris’ squad against Queens Park Rangers this weekend.
Sunderland injury news
Despite sitting top of the Championship, Sunderland haven’t been without their problems on the injury front this season and it looked as though those issues were going to increase last weekend when Wilson Isidor suffered an injury scare against Oxford United. Eliezer Mayenda has also been out on the sidelines recently, missing the last six games.
However, both have recently trained to hand Le Bris a double boost ahead of the QPR games, with Isidor looking to continue his fine form and Mayenda hoping to make his first appearance since September.
It’s not just Isidor and Mayenda who could be on course to face QPR, however, with one Black Cats star also battling to be fit. According to The Sunderland Echo, there’s now a growing belief inside Sunderland that Daniel Ballard could return against QPR this weekend in what would be his first league appearance since facing Middlesbrough on September 21.
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Sunderland fans won’t believe how much of a force this ex-player has turned into.
Missing over a month of action, the defender will be desperate to return amid Sunderland’s excellent form. After playing a key role in their survival last season, Ballard could prove to be just as vital, if not more now that the Black Cats are vying for shock promotion to the Premier League.
Having missed the last six Championship games, and eight of the 12 that Sunderland have played so far this season, Ballard must now avoid a further injury blow and get a run of games under his belt.
“Leader” Ballard still a key man at Sunderland
Although both Luke O’Nien and Chris Mepham have covered incredibly well together in the absence of Ballard, the 25-year-old is likely to come back into the side once he is 100% fit. Of course, the last thing that Le Bris will want is for his defender to suffer yet another setback, but he should also ensure that Ballard is back to his best by the time the festive fixtures begin to come thick and fast.
The Sunderland man has earned plenty of praise over the years, including from Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill, who told reporters as relayed by The Sunderland Echo: “Dan is a young player but he is an experienced player in his team at Sunderland in a very young club side and he brings a lot to us. He is one of our more experienced players, along with Paddy McNair and Jordan Thompson.
“They’re pretty much our most experienced players in this group so it’s nice to have Daniel back. He’s in a good place and when you see him playing for Sunderland you see a natural leader. Hopefully you see that emerge at international level as well.”
