Sunderland are set to be without one of their first-team players for the immediate future, following a fresh update.
Who is injured for Sunderland?
Tony Mowbray currently has Dennis Cirkin and Bradley Dack both on the sidelines with their own respective injuries at the Stadium of Light, alongside new signing Timothee Pembele, who joined from Paris Saint-Germain over the summer but is still building up his fitness, as per ChronicleLive.
In addition to those three, Nazariy Rusyn still hasn’t been given international clearance so is yet to be able to make his debut for the northeast outfit, but they aren’t the only players who won’t be available for selection for Wednesday evening’s fixture at Ewood Park.
Following his arrival back in January, Pierre Ekwah has made a total of 25 senior appearances and has quickly become an integral member of the boss’ squad, but he was forced off the pitch in the previous game against Queens Park Rangers.
During the 3-1 victory over Gareth Ainsworth’s side, the defensive midfielder had to be replaced by Alex Pritchard on 14 minutes after taking a knock to the knee – which is an area that he’s previously been affected by – and the manager has now delivered a new update on the 21-year-old’s situation.
How long is Pierre Ekwah out for?
Speaking during his pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Mowbray confirmed that Ekwah is ruled out of not just the match vs Blackburn but likely one or two more, whilst also sharing details on the injury to Cirkin.
As quoted by the club’s official website, he said: “Dennis is going to be a few weeks. He will potentially be back after the next international break.
“Pierre, he has a haematoma or a dead leg. Within five minutes of the game starting (at QPR), he got another bang and it was too sore for him. It is quite swollen so he probably needs around ten days to let it settle down. We don’t have any huge concerns about it but he will miss a game or two.”
How good is Pierre Ekwah?
According to journalist and Black Cats fan Josh Bunting, Ekwah has been a “vital cog” for Sunderland since putting pen to paper, so considering the positive impact that he makes, it’ll be a huge blow for Mowbray to not have him at his disposal in Lancashire and likely against Cardiff and Sheffield Wednesday as well.
The Frenchman has made ten tackles so far this season which is the third-highest total throughout the squad, via FBRef, and alongside his desire to get stuck in and win back possession for his team, he’s also extremely calm and composed on the ball having recorded a 90.2% pass success rate in the Championship.
Furthermore, the left-footed ace, who has additionally scored two goals in six second-tier outings this term, has the ability to operate at centre-back and slightly higher up in central midfield alongside his usual role in front of the backline, but his excellent versatility is another quality that the coach will have to cope without for a short spell.
