Niall Huggins is still some way away from a return to full training as he continues his rehab work, says Alex Neil. The defender joined Sunderland from Leeds United last summer and had made just four appearances for his new club when he suffered a stress fracture of the back last September, which was the start of his ten-month injury nightmare.
During his recovery from the back problem Huggins suffered a heel injury which Neil described in March as 'bizarre', and his rehab has been punctuated with setbacks. The 21-year-old is working his way back to fitness and travelled with the Sunderland squad to Portugal for pre-season last month, although he spent his time working with the club's medical staff rather than training with the first-team.
"Niall has still got a lot of work to do to get back to where we would like him to be potentially even involved at the moment," Neil said this morning. "He has been really unfortunate with injuries that have come along, and he has had a few setbacks along the way in his rehab.
