Sunderland handed fresh injury concern ahead of Millwall as 'leader' requires 'investigation'

Sunderland will be sweating on an injury issue ahead of their clash with Millwall this weekend. The Black Cats are galloping towards a playoff berth, currently in fourth place, 10 points ahead of Coventry City in fifth and nine points off Burnley in third.

Regis Le Bris’ men will almost certainly be playing playoff football, but they are in the midst of a difficult injury situation that doesn’t seem to be getting much better.

One of those struggling with injury is full-back Trai Hume, who has struggled with fitness, but he still linked up with Northern Ireland for their friendly fixtures with Switzerland and Sweden. But in what could be a fresh blow for Sunderland, Hume has been sent back to his club after playing in that first friendly, a draw with Switzerland.

Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill explained: “He'd not really been training with Sunderland, just playing games and getting through games. He felt quite sore after the game on Friday and we thought rather than put him through that again it was better to send him back to the club and have that investigated. It's not something that we want, or Sunderland want, to drag on. They've got a lot to play for and we would not want him to come here and subsequently miss the games in June either."

Hume has been vital for Sunderland this season, making 37 league appearances for the club so far this season. Speaking back in November, Sunderland boss Le Bris said of Hume: “He is a good player and very important for the team. His mentality is great. He is a good player with and without the ball, so he is important for us. He played as a left-back in the first part of the game and then as a right-back. He did well but, for every player in the team today, it’s still little margins we have to manage to be better. I think Trai has this mindset, and I hope we will be competitive on Friday.”

Northern Ireland boss O’Neill has previously said: "Not many players come out of the Irish League and step into English football and play with that level of consistency. He may not be the captain at Sunderland but he is a leader. I’ve no hesitation in saying he will do a good job."

As for Millwall, they are now entering a key portion of the season that will pit them against a number of promotion contenders. The Lions are six points off the top six and they will need to remain consistency through a difficult stretch of the season to remain in the race heading into the final games of the campaign.

The Lions face Sunderland this weekend, then strugglers Portsmouth, before taking on promotion hopefuls Sheffield United, Middlesbrough, Blackburn Rovers and Norwich City all on the bounce. Millwall will need a good return from those fixtures, but there is also an inherent positive in that some of those games could be playoff six-pointers, so wins will have a huge impact on the table.