Sunderland captain Corry Evans has suffered a further injury setback, it has been revealed.
Sunderland skipper Evans, 33, has been sidelined for more than a year now after suffering a cruciate ligament injury at the start of 2023.
The Northern Irishman was pictured in first-team training recently as he steps up his recovery, with the midfielder scheduled to play in some U21s fixtures.
But Mike Dodds has now revealed that Evans has suffered a minor setback on his road to recovery.
Corry Evans ‘rolls’ ankle, but ‘nothing major’ says Mike Dodds
Speaking to We Are Sunderland ahead of the Championship clash vs Southampton on Saturday, interim boss Dodds revealed the fresh injury blow to Evans, saying:
“Corry rolled his ankle this morning, it’s nothing major. There was a discussion about him playing or not playing but they just feel they are going to give him a couple of days.
“Corry isn’t playing on Monday but it’s more of a precaution than anything based on the fact he has been out for a period of time.”
Evans is expected to return for Sunderland U21s’ clash vs Newcastle United later in the month.
Former Manchester United youngster Evans currently has 408 career appearances to his name across spells with the likes of Hull City, Blackburn Rovers, and Sunderland, with 64 of those coming in red and white.
Evans played a starring role in the 2021/22 promotion-winning season in League One, featuring 36 times in the league, scoring two and assisting two more after reuniting with former Blackburn Rovers boss Tony Mowbray at the Stadium of Light.
A long road to recovery for Evans at Sunderland
It’s certainly been an arduous process for Evans.
He suffered a major injury beforehand and thankfully this latest setback seems like a very minor injury, but it certainly adds to the idea that we won’t see Evans in a Sunderland shirt ever again.
His contract remains out at the end of the season and with just a few months left of the campaign, Evans is definitely facing a race against the clock.
But if he can feature for the U21s at the end of the month, with a two-week international break in there as well, Evans may yet be readying himself for a return to first-team action in April.
And it would be great to see Evans back out there; Sunderland have certainly missed someone with his experience and steel in the middle of the park this time round and if Evans could make some impressive cameos for Sunderland, he’ll put himself in the shop window ahead of the summer.
Southampton vs Sunderland kicks off at 3pm on Saturday.