Alex Pritchard and Nathan Broadhead are close to rejoining Sunderland's play-off challenge - but boss Alex Neil is unsure whether they will be fit to return this weekend. Both Pritchard and Broadhead have been sidelined through injury since early March, depriving the Black Cats of two key men as the season reaches a crucial stage.
Midfielder Pritchard has been out of action with an ankle injury that saw him limp out of Sunderland's goalless draw at Charlton, while on-loan Everton striker Broadhead picked up a hamstring issue in the same game in what was his first outing since suffering a much more serious hamstring problem before Christmas. Both players have recovered more quickly than first thought, and they have joined in training this week.
Sunderland resume their League One campaign against Gillingham at the Stadium of Light on Saturday and Neil was non-commital over Pritchard and Broadhead's chances of featuring, although it was notable that he did not rule them out at this stage. "We were concerned that both would be long-term issues, but they have recovered quicker than anticipated," said Neil.
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"That's great and both have been out on the grass this week, so we have hopefully seen flashes that they are coming back. Whether they will be back for this weekend's game against Gillingham, I'm not quite sure, but they certainly aren't far away."
Sunderland also received a boost during the international break with Danny Batth's return from injury in the U23s' game against Burnley last week - a game which also featured senior men Thorben Hoffmann, Arbenit Xhemajli, Leon Dajaku, and Elliot Embleton. Centre-back Batth, who joined the Black Cats in January, had been out with an ankle injury since February but played 90 minutes against the Clarets.
Neil said of the U23 game: "We tried to top up as many lads with minutes that hadn't been featuring, and obviously the likes of Danny needed some because he hadn't played in a wee while. It's good to get all the players back, as it gives us variety in terms of what is available for our remaining games."
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