Michael Beale of Sunderland is pictured during the Sky Bet Championship match between Sunderland and Hull City at the Stadium of Light in Sunderland, on January 19, 2024. (Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Michael Beale says Sunderland star will ‘miss the next couple of games’
Sunderland will be without this key player for their upcoming Championship clash vs Stoke City, and following game vs Middlesbrough too.
Sunderland host Stoke City at the Stadium of Light tomorrow, for what promises to another tough outing for the under-pressure Michael Beale.
The Black Cats boss is under extreme pressure after a 1-0 defeat at home to Hull City last week; what was just his seventh game in charge.
Stoke City come to Wearside under new management themselves with Steve Schumacher having replaced former Sunderland boss Alex Neil last month.
Since, the Potters have played six games, winning two, drawing three and losing just the one.
Patrick Roberts remains sidelined for Stoke City clash
Sunderland have had more than their share of injuries since returning to the Championship ahead of last season.
And they still have a few bodies in the treatment room with attacker Patrick Roberts one of them; the 26-year-old has missed the last four games with a calf injury now, and Beale says he’s set to miss this weekend’s game as well.
Speaking to The Northern Echo, Beale said:
“There’s no change with the injury situation. We’re hoping that Pat will be back training at the back end of next week or the start of the week after. He’s still going to miss the next couple of games though, unfortunately.”
After the game vs Stoke, Sunderland make the short journey to Middlesbrough the following weekend.
Sunderland injury woes continue
As if things aren’t hard enough for Beale right now, remaining without Roberts only serves to make matters worse.
On his day, he’s arguably one of the best attackers in the Championship, and it may be no surprise that in the last four games he’s not played, Sunderland have lost three and only scored three goals.
