MICHAEL BEALE has confirmed that Patrick Roberts remains a major injury doubt ahead of Sunderland’s weekend meeting with derby rivals Newcastle United in the third round of the FA Cup.
Roberts hobbled off in the early stages of the 1-1 draw at Rotherham United last Friday night and was not involved in the New Year’s Day win over Preston.
The winger has not yet been able to return to full training, and while there remains a slight chance he could make the squad for Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off, the likelihood at the minute is that he will not be involved.
On a more positive note, however, there were no new injury issues to emerge from Monday’s victory over Preston at the Stadium of Light.
“Patrick is a big doubt for Saturday's game,” said Beale. “I’ll have to make a call on him later in the week. At the moment, we don’t have any other injury issues off the back of the Preston game.”
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