Mike Dodds names the Sunderland player in line for a major opportunity amid defensive injury crisis

Sunderland interim manager Mike Dodds has provided a positive update to the Sunderland Echo on injured first-team trio Corry Evans, Bradley Dack and Aji Alese.

Sunderland haven’t had the best run of form of late, losing six in a row in the Championship. Their form has left their season in limbo, as they sit 12th in the table and seven points off the play-offs and seven points above the bottom three.

With nine games left to play they will be hoping to keep their top six hopes alive for as long as they can. In order to help them do this they will need to have their best players fit and available.

So they will certainly be boosted by the news that first-team trio Evans, Dack and Alese are ‘back in training’ according to interim boss Dodds. Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, he provided a positive injury update.

“I think the break will be important because I think we will get two or three bodies back closer to the team,” he said.

“Corry, Aji and Bradley are back training with the team so they’ll be huge positives for us going into the Easter weekend. Bradley and Corry will play in the U21s on Monday, Aji won’t play in that one but I think there’s one on the Friday that he will then play in.”

Sunderland face Queens Park Rangers at the Stadium of Light tomorrow afternoon, where they will be hoping to get back to winning ways. However, it seems unlikely the injured trio will feature just yet.

A huge boost for Sunderland

Although their hopes of a play-off place look to be dead and buried, a run of form can see any team right back in the mix. Sides who have recorded two or three consecutive wins have turned their fortunes around in just a couple of weeks and Sunderland will be hoping to do the same.