Niall Huggins still has a way to go before he is ready to resume his Sunderland career, according to Alex Neil. The 21-year-old full-back saw his first season on Wearside wrecked by injuries, having made only four appearances since he joined from Leeds United last summer.
He initially suffered a stress fracture to the back in September, but during his rehab from that injury he suffered a heel problem that Neil described in March as 'bizarre'. Huggins has travelled with Sunderland for their pre-season trip to Portugal but is not training with the first-team squad, and has instead been working with the club's medical staff.
Neil says Sunderland will not rush the youngster back, preferring to wait until he has made a full recovery to minimise the chances of a recurrence. "Unfortunately for Niall, he's not doing pre season with us at the moment," said Neil.
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"He's still on the way back from his injury, which has obviously been ongoing. He's come out with us to work with the physios, he's part of our group and we want him to be involved.
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"We just need to make slow progress with Niall, so we can get him in the best nick so that he doesn't break down. It's been tough for him.
"We value him a lot so we want him to get fit as soon as we can, but there's no rush on it. It's really important we get him back to a point where he doesn't break down."
The original back issue was expected to keep him out until January, but a setback in December saw that timescale extended until March. But then came the heel problem which ruled him out of the remainder of Sunderland's play-off winning campaign.
Back in March, Neil explained: "Unfortunately, Niall has got a really strange injury - it's highly unusual. He's basically damaged his heel doing his rehab coming back [from the back injury].
"It was not through contact - I don't know exactly what it is, it's a really bizarre injury."
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