Sunderland may be without one of their sidelined stars until the 2025/26 season, it has now been revealed.
Thankfully for Sunderland, their injury list isn’t as big as it has been in recent seasons. Although Regis Le Bris is still without some key first-team names.
Ahead of the trip to Hull City this weekend, Le Bris shared the latest Sunderland team news, revealing that Eliezer Mayenda and Dan Ballard are sidelined for another week.
Elsewhere, Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi remain injured until later in the year whilst Aaron Connolly is tipped to make his Sunderland debut against Hull City.
Jenson Seelt looks like he could be absent until the New Year, along with Aji Alese, whilst Niall Huggins’ return date has been somewhat unclear, until now that is.
Huggins signed a new Sunderland contract this week, penning a deal until the summer of 2026 with the club having an option to extend.
Niall Huggins injury return date revealed, it’s bad news for Sunderland
Huggins made an impressive start to last season. The former Leeds United man finally showed his potential, featuring 19 times in the Championship before a serious knee injury halted his campaign.
The defender hasn’t played since December 2023. And now, BBC pundit Nick Barnes has revealed that the 23-year-old may not play again until next season.
Barnes said on Total Sport: “Huggins of course has signed a new contract. Huggins, incidentally, looks like he could, potentially, miss all this season.
“That is very much now, something that’s in the minds of the medical staff.”
What else has been said about Niall Huggins’ injury?
Very little has been said about Huggins’ injury until now, with the last update coming from sporting direction Kristjaan Speakman during the summer.
He simply said: “Jenson and Niall are progressing well.”
Then after Huggins signed a new contract, Speakman said: “Niall experienced a significant injury just as he had established himself in the team but despite this disappointment, his response has been first class.
“He continues to work extremely hard to put himself in a positive position as he continues his rehabilitation.
“This extension removes any ambiguity over his status next summer and allows our focus to be on supporting him over the coming weeks and months.”
Barnes’ latest update seems like the only real one we’ve had since Huggins was sidelined almost a year ago.
It’s clear that the club are wary of rushing Huggins back to action. But given his new contract, it’s also clear that the club back Huggins to make a full recovery and return to the first-team picture.