Mark Venus has explained why Pierre Ekwah has really struggled since returning from injury for Sunderland.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, the Black Cats coach admitted that the Frenchman was still working on his fitness after spending a month on the sidelines.
Pierre Ekwah had established himself as one of Sunderland’s most important players earlier in the season, receiving high praise when he netted a brace in the 5-0 win over Southampton in September.
However, Ekwah managed only one more game before he was forced to sit out of five Championship games due to a dead leg.
The midfielder returned to action in the defeat to Stoke City, but has since failed to get back to his best.
Ekwah has noticeably been rather poor in recent games, with fans criticising the 21-year-old and even Tony Mowbray admitting that he was ‘a yard off it’ and ‘not up to speed’.
However, Mark Venus has now explained that his gradual recovery from the injury has had an impact on his performances.
“He had a period out of the team where due to his injury it was very difficult for him to condition himself,” Venus said.
“I think he just has to keep training hard, do bits of extra training when the week allows him to and use the game-time to get himself where he was.
“When you pick up an injury it’s not straight forward that you come back where you left off.
“Time out of the team and not working the body and keeping yourself sharp with training does catch you out. From every experience, Pierre will learn from it. All of the young boys will. Hopefully they learn so the next time it happens they can make the best use of it.”
Should Pierre Ekwah be dropped?
Having made 16 appearances last season after joining in the January transfer window, Pierre Ekwah was yet to really experience any kind of ‘long-term’ injury that had kept him out of first team action.
The youngster wasn’t expected to be out for as long as he was, but his absence clearly affected the team, yet he was unable to make a similar impact once he was available again.
Given Ekwah’s recent performances and his apparent lack of fitness, it would be a surprise to see him start against Huddersfield Town tonight.
The midfielder definitely needs a further rest and perhaps he can come back into the side during the festive period – if he can force his way back in.