Sunderland suffer major injury blow as defender won't play again this season

It seems Sunderland just can't catch a break on the fitness front with a fourth player now suffering a season-ending injury.

Michael Graham | Mar 10, 2023

Sunderland suffer major injury blow as defender won't play again this season /

Sunderland have suffered a major fresh injury blow with the news that defender Aji Alese will miss the rest of the season.

Alese was withdrawn at half-time of the 5-1 defeat to Stoke due to injury, with Luke O’Nien coming on to replace him.

However, scans have revealed the bad news that the defender will not play again this season.

“Sunderland AFC can confirm that Aji Alese will miss the remainder of the season due to a thigh problem, a club statement read.

“The defender picked up the injury during Saturday’s defeat to Stoke City in the Sky Bet Championship.

“Wishing you a speedy recovery, Aji!”

The injury will place fresh emphasis on getting Dennis Cirkin back to fitness, with him now being the club’s only natural left-back this season.

Cirkin has been struggling with injury himself this season, and when he did return he suffered a very nasty concussion while heading the equaliser against Millwall.

The other options to Tony Mowbray are far from ideal. Luke O’Nien and Lynden Gooch have played there before, but both are right-footed.

Meanwhile, Niall Huggins could be an ideal option, but the former Leeds man just can’t seem to keep himself fit.

One other option would be to revert to a back three and move Jack Clarke into the left wing-back role. He played there a lot at the start of the season, but he has been in exceptional form further forward.

Alese is the latest in what is becoming a long time of Sunderland long-term injury absentees. Ross Stewart and Corry Evans are both out for the season too, and Elliot Embleton is unlikely to return before next season as well.

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Published Mar 10, 2023

MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football. Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion. Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk