Sunderland v Hearts: Triple injury update emerges with Wilson Isidor latest shared
Sunderland’s pre-season preparations continue to be marred by injuries.
Regis Le Bris’s uphill task of staying in the Premier League is not being made any easier as the Black Cats battle to keep their squad healthy.
The Mackems will already be without Luke O’Nien for the start of the season after his recent shoulder injury, while Romaine Mundle is recovering from his surgery.
With Dennis Cirkin and Aji Alese also sidelined, Le Bris would have hoped for good news ahead of their pre-season defeat against Hearts on Saturday.
Patterson, Rigg, and Isidor miss out against Hearts
Sunderland travelled to Scotland to face Hearts on Saturday (26 July) for their fifth pre-season friendly of the summer so far.
The team was announced an hour before kick-off, and saw the return of captain Dan Neil to the starting lineup as Le Bris made three changes to the team that lost 1-0 to Sporting Lisbon earlier this week.
However, there were three notable absentees in Anthony Patterson, Chris Rigg, and Wilson Isidor, all of whom were unable to recover from their setbacks in time for the game.
Fans were naturally worried as all three are set for key roles next season, but as reported by Phil Smith (26 July), none of the injuries are significant issues.
Isidor is still recovering from a knock sustained to his knee against Sevilla, while Patterson and Rigg were both spotted in training during Sunderland’s pre-season tour in Portugal, but are being protected as a precaution.
Sunderland beaten 3-0 by Hearts
All the pre-match focus was on Craig Gordon, as the fixture was organised as a testimonial for the former Black Cats goalkeeper, with warm words exchanged ahead of kick-off.
However, Le Bris will still be disappointed by his side’s performance once the match had started, with Claudio Braga putting the hosts ahead within 10 minutes.
Sunderland offered no reply as Lawrence Shankland doubled Hearts’ lead after the break, before Alexandros Kyziridis scored a late third to seal the result, which never looked in doubt.
The French manager will be pleased to have gotten more minutes into his players’ legs and hopefully come away with the squad unscathed, but will likely be unsettled by the poor showing that resulted in their second consecutive defeat.
Sign up for the Mackem News WhatsApp channel and turn on notifications to have all the latest, breaking Sunderland AFC news sent straight to your phone.