An update has emerged on Sunderland winger Lynden Gooch and his fitness ahead of the clash with Blackburn Rovers in the Championship…
What’s the talk?
Black Cats manager Tony Mowbray has revealed that the versatile American is set to miss out on Tuesday night after suffering a knock in the win over Swansea.
He told the Northern Echo: “I don’t think Lynden’s going to be available, although it’s Lynden Gooch we’re talking about, so he might well come in and say he’s feeling great.
“It’s not a really serious one, although I think he is going to get a scan today just because if he’s got discomfort, we need to make sure that it’s either nothing and something he can almost strap up and get on with, or if it is something more serious, we’ll be able to put a timescale on it.”
Mowbray has also confirmed that Ellis Simms is unavailable for selection but that the forward is making progress and could return to the bench in one of the next few matches, saying:
“He (Simms) ain’t far away, to be honest. He hasn’t joined in with the team yet, but he’s been on the training pitches and watching him the last couple of days, he’s going box to box, doing little volleys and side-foot passes, a bit of twisting and turning as well.
Gutting development
After the win over Swansea, the Black Cats boss refused to be drawn on the severity of Gooch’s injury and did not confirm whether or not he would be available against Blackburn.
Is this a big blow for Sunderland?
He has now claimed that the 26-year-old will not be in contention to start at Ewood Park and the manager should be gutted by that as he’s been an important member of the team this season.
The American wing-back has started all 14 of the club’s matches in the Championship so far and this shows that he has been consistently solid, as Alex Neil and Mowbray have both leaned on him at every available opportunity.
This comes after he started 36 times in League One last season, playing 41 games in total, showing that he has been a consistent performer for the last three managers, with Lee Johnson in charge at the Stadium of Light for the first half of 2021/22.
Gooch has not let the team down at all in the second tier this term as he has not made a single error leading to a shot or goal in his 14 appearances, whilst making 2.3 tackles and interceptions per game.
Therefore, Mowbray will be gutted by the prospect of his ever-reliable asset missing out against Blackburn as he will be without one of his most consistent performers on the pitch. His absence is set to be a big blow.
