Former Sunderland man Marco Gabbiadini has suggested that one Black Cats man has struggled since returning from injury.
Sunderland have several players called up to international duty, with a total of nine players set to spend time away from Wearside.
Notably, Sunderland have two players representing England sides during the international break, with Jobe Bellingham receiving a call-up to England U21s, whilst Chris Rigg has cemented his place in the England U19s set-up.
They were meant to have a third player receiving their first England U21 call-up, with Dennis Cirkin’s name being written in the squad announcement, but the Black Cats full-back had to pull out due to injury concerns.
Since his injury set-back, former Sunderland man Marco Gabbiadini has weighed in on Cirkin with an honest verdict on the defender.
Marco Gabbiadini gives honest verdict on Sunderland ace Dennis Cirkin since wrist injury
Cirkin currently finds himself out due to a hamstring injury, which led to him being forced to withdraw from the England U21 set-up. It isn’t the first fitness concern Cirkin has picked up this season, having suffered from a broken wrist in November.
Gabbiadini, since his most recent set-back, has weighed in on his opinion of the Sunderland left-back, per Total Sport, praising him at first but suggesting that he hasn’t been at the peak of his powers since November.
Gabbiadini said: “Since he came back from the wrist injury, I don’t think he’s been the Dennis Cirkin of old for whatever reason, and I’ve heard a number of fans remark on that, saying the same. I don’t think he’s been 100% since he came back.”
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Regis Le Bris will be glad to have Leo Hjelde as Dennis Cirkin back-up
Whilst it could be argued that Cirkin wasn’t playing to the absolute best of his abilities prior to the international break, there is still no understating how much of a miss he is set to be for Sunderland.
Fortunately, Regis Le Bris has a solid backup option to the English youngster, and that is Leo Hjelde. The Sunderland boss has already given Hjelde game time to help acclimatise him to the level, and he has shown to be a decent option for the Black Cats to turn towards.
That does leave depth behind Hjelde a relative concern now as without the Norwegian, Sunderland may have had to turn towards Luke O’Nien to fill that vacancy, something that would have left a gaping hole in the Black Cats’ defence.