Tony Mowbray is hopeful that Ellis Simms' toe injury does not turn out to be a broken bone. On-loan Everton striker Simms suffered the injury just before the half-hour mark in Sunderland's 3-0 win at Reading and tried to carry on, before eventually limping off around ten minutes before half-time.
With leading scorer Ross Stewart already ruled out for a minimum of six weeks with a torn thigh muscle, Simms was Sunderland's only remaining senior centre-forward and that meant his injury could be a major problem for Mowbray if it does sideline him for a period of time. For now, though, Mowbray is keeping his fingers crossed that it does not turn out to be too serious, and the club's medical staff will reassess the situation in the morning before deciding whether to send Simms for a scan.
"It's his big toe - it's the joint of his big toe," said Mowbray. "He was struggling to push off. His big toe is numb at the moment.
