Tony Mowbray has explained Bailey Wright's absence at Reading - and says the defender will also miss tomorrow's trip to Watford. The Australia international was a surprise absentee when the teamsheet was revealed at the Madejski Stadium, where Wright had been expected to be named amongst the substitutes.
Sunderland have stayed and trained in Berkshire at Bisham Abbey between the 3-0 win at Reading and the visit to Vicarage Road, but Wright has not travelled with the squad. However, Mowbray says the 30-year-old has been missing due to family reasons rather than any injury concern.
"Bailey has got no injury, it's a situation he has got at home that he came to me about," explained Mowbray. "We allowed him to stay in the North East around his family, and that will be resolved very, very, quickly I'm sure over the next few days.
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"He won't be available tomorrow but, after that, we've got two weeks without a game anyway. It was just something he needed to sort out at home with his family."
Wright has generally been on the bench this season as backup to centre-back Danny Batth. Mowbray says Batth and skipper Corry Evans have taken it easy since the win at Reading to keep them fresh for the game against the Hornets.
Evans and Batth, at 32 and 31 respectively, are the oldest members of the Black Cats squad and have been mainstays of the side this season. But with tomorrow's game coming less than 72 hours after Wednesday's 3-0 victory, Mowbray is conscious of the need to look after his senior men.
Batth completed the full 90 minutes against Reading while midfielder Evans was substituted eight minutes from time suffering from cramp. Asked whether they could cope with two games in quick succession, Mowbray said: "I hope so.
"We took Corry off because he did come over and say he had started to cramp up a little bit. It was a huge effort for them the other night.
"Football is a physically demanding game, and as you get older you have to try and manage yourself when you've got two games in three days. He [Evans] will do practically nothing before putting his boots on again and going again tomorrow.
"The human body is like a bottle and when it runs down, you have to fill it back up before you start going again. With those lads, we are sort of filling the bottle back up.
"They are going to do very little today, they'll be around the tactical stuff but they won't have to join in as such - they know their jobs. They know football and they understand that in this league sometimes you have a game every three days.
"They'll be ready. Whether they get the full 90 minutes, I hope so. Each game is different and sometimes you have to put your foot on the gas a little bit harder and it takes more out of you, other times if you are feeling comfortable in your position you can take your foot off the gas a little and keep the ball moving.
"They are both experienced, they are both doing extremely well, and let's hope they can stay fit and continue in the vein they are doing at the moment."
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