Tony Mowbray says Amad Diallo's return to the UK just over 24 hours before kick-off against Burnley prevented the Manchester United loanee from starting on Friday.
The 20-year-old represented Ivory Coast during the international break for a double header against Comoros in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
He didn't feature in the first game in a 3-1 victory on March 24, but played 74 minutes in a 2-0 win on March 28.
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Therefore, this led to a quick turnaround as he attempted to travel back to England in time before Friday evening's clash at Turf Moor.
"Amad arrived at the hotel at 7pm on Thursday night. He came straight from Manchester when his flight got in," Mowbray said.
"He hasn’t trained with anybody all week, so we had no idea what his physical condition is. We would obviously want to start with Amad, but we couldn’t. It would have been the wrong thing to do."
Diallo was introduced in the 63rd minute and he saw his shot deflected onto the crossbar as Sunderland drew 0-0 against the Championship leaders.
The Ivorian has been a key figure for the Sunderland this season - scoring nine goals and contributing two assists in 30 appearances in the Championship.
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