Tony Mowbray has spoken of his frustration as Sunderland suffered a fresh round of injuries to take some of the gloss off the return of Ross Stewart and Dan Ballard. The Black Cats welcomed Stewart and Ballard back to their squad for last weekend's trip to Hull City, with striker Stewart available again after three-and-a-half months out with a thigh injury while defender Ballard had been missing for four months with a fractured foot.
But Sunderland were without midfielder Alex Pritchard at Hull due to a calf issue, and Ballard was pressed into action inside the opening quarter-hour at the MKM Stadium when Danny Batth limped off with a calf injury. Then in the second half, Elliot Embleton was stretchered off with a broken ankle and ligament damage - an injury that is likely to keep him on the sidelines for an extended period of time.
Sunderland have had to contend with a lengthy injury list in the first half of the season with Stewart and Ballard joined in the treatment room by Ellis Simms, Dennis Cirkin, Aji Alese, and Edouard Michut, at various times, although they are all now fit. Mowbray said: "It's good that we've got Ellis back and Ross is on the cusp - he played at the weekend and scored so he is on the cusp of getting a start.
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"It's great to see Dan Ballard back as well to give different types of options defensively. The sadness for me is that we have picked up a couple of injuries.
"At this moment Pritchard wasn't ready at the weekend and Danny Batth came off after however many minutes, and then Elliot Embleton picked up his injury. You get a couple of players back - the likes of Ross Stewart and Dan Ballard - but then you lose two or three as well. But I suppose that's football and we have to accept it."
Sunderland's 1-1 draw at Hull marked the midway point of the Championship season, and the second half of the Black Cats' campaign gets under way on Boxing Day when Mowbray's former club Blackburn Rovers visit the Stadium of Light in a lunchtime fixture that will be shown live on Sky Sports.
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