Michael Beale has provided an injury update after Patrick Roberts was forced off in Sunderland’s draw with Rotherham United.
Patrick Roberts has endured a difficult second campaign in the Championship, despite putting pen to paper on a new contract last month.
The winger has been a regular in the starting line-up, but has failed to score for Sunderland since a 2-2 draw against Watford back in April. Roberts only has one assist to his name this term too, coming in the 3-1 win over Norwich.
Roberts has looked rather lively in Michael Beale‘s first few games in charge though, but the Black Cats were left at a disadvantage when he came off injured after only 15 minutes last night.
The attacker was replaced by Abdoullah Ba on the wing much to the fans’ dismay, with the Frenchman looking ‘especially awful’ in recent games.
With Sunderland’s all-important FA Cup clash against Newcastle United coming up next week, there was huge concern over Roberts’ fitness after he was spotted with an ice pack on his knee in the dugout.
Beale has now given an update on his injury though, and it sounds quite positive.
Speaking to the Sunderland Echo after the game, he said: “He said he felt it being tight, so we’ll obviously get it looked at, but he doesn’t feel as though he’s popped it so we might be lucky there.”
Will Patrick Roberts be fit to face Newcastle?
Patrick Roberts was able to hobble off the pitch unassisted, so it doesn’t seem like the injury could be as bad as first feared.
Given Abdoullah Ba’s horrific form as of late, we could have been in real trouble if Roberts wasn’t available to face the Magpies.
He hasn’t scored in a while, but he remains one of our most threatening players and there is no doubt he would have been desperate to impress in the FA Cup. Scoring against Newcastle would seem like a huge ask if he wasn’t on the pitch.
I would like to hope that Ba doesn’t take his place in the starting line-up if he is out though. I would rather start Adil Aouchiche, Alex Pritchard, Nazariy Rusyn or even Jewison Bennette over the 20-year-old.
I’m not sure what Ba is doing to become so popular under Michael Beale and Mike Dodds, but his reputation certainly isn’t coming on the pitch. Attacking reinforcements are certainly needed in a few days time.