Ahmed Abdullahi latest as Sunderland injury situation ahead of Sheffield United final explained
Sunderland are close to having a full squad available for the play-off final against Sheffield United
Ahmed Abdullahi has suffered a setback in his return to action at Sunderland, though the club are increasingly confident that is now fully recovered from the groin injury that has thus far prevented him from making his debut.
Though any involvement in the play-off semi finals against Coventry City on his part was always unlikely given his lack of match fitness, Abdullahi had returned to full training ahead of the first leg. The Echo understands that the 20-year-old, who signed on deadline day last September, subsequently suffered a concussion.
He is currently going through the concussion protocols and though he is expected to be back in full training before the trip to face Sheffield United at Wembley next Saturday, his lack of match minutes mean he is unlikely to be involved in the squad.
His progress does offer encouragement for next season, however. After his arrival from Gent last year Sunderland decided that surgery was the right option to deal with a pre-existing groin issue, which sidelined the striker for a number of months.
The surgery was successful and Abdullahi produced an exciting run of goalscoring form for the U21s, but continued to experience some pain and had to return to the sidelines for another spell of recovery. His return to training before his concussion is a promising sign of his progress and he will be targeting a full pre season to try and force his way into contention for first-team football.
Niall Huggins has also been back in full training for a number of weeks as he steps up his recovery from a major injury, though his lack of match fitness means it would be a surprise if was named in the squad to face Sheffield United.
Sunderland could, however, bring Aji Alese back into the matchday squad if he is able to train fully next week. Alese has made better than expected progress from the injury he suffered in the FA Cup third round defeat to Stoke City in January. Alese was not able to return in time for the semi finals against Coventry City but Régis Le Bris said on Monday that he hoped he would be back in a week.
Ian Poveda appears highly unlikely to be involved at Wembley having still not returned to full training ahead of the Coventry City games.
