Sunderland’s relegation fears have intensified after Lee Cattermole and Steven Fletcher were ruled out for the remainder of the season. Cattermole, the captain and a key midfielder, has undergone surgery on a long-standing knee problem and Fletcher, the team’s £12 million centre forward, could also face an operation on the ankle ligament damage which will keep him out until August.
Sunderland have failed to win any of their previous seven Premier League games and are only four points above third bottom Wigan Athletic. With Fletcher — who sustained his injury while on international duty with Scotland — having scored 11 of their 33 league goals this season, Martin O’Neill must trust that Danny Graham and/or Connor Wickham can step into the breach as they prepare for a daunting run of games which sees fixtures against Manchester United, Chelsea, Newcastle United, Everton and Aston Villa in swift succession.
While Wickham, an £8 million England Under-21 striker, has recently returned from a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday, the bulk of attention is likely to focus on Graham, who has still to score for Sunderland following his GBP5m transfer from Swansea in January. Having sold Fraizer Campbell to Cardiff in January when he also released Louis Saha, O’Neill’s attacking choices are limited, but one option open to the Sunderland manager would be to switch Stephane Sessegnon from a deep-lying role to outright attack.
Meanwhile, David Miliband is to remain a board member at the Stadium of Light despite stepping down as MP for South Shields. The former foreign secretary is leaving UK politics to take up a post in New York with the United States-based charity the International Rescue Committee. However Miliband, who became vice-chairman and a non-executive director of Sunderland in 2011, will maintain his links with the club. Margaret Byrne, the club’s chief executive, said: “David’s knowledge and experience have been a tremendous benefit to Sunderland. Naturally we are delighted that he is to continue in his role at the club, and we also wish him every success with this new chapter of his life.”
Guardian Service
