Sunderland have a number of players struggling with knocks, but first team coach Robbie Stockdale says the situation is not as bad as it appears.
The Black Cats played out a 1-1 draw with French side Montpellier in their final pre-season outing on Saturday, but German midfielder Jan Kirchhoff was forced off in the first half with a hamstring problem.
Kirchhoff is now a doubt for Sunderland’s Premier League opener against Manchester City, but Stockdale doesn’t think the injury is too serious.
“Jan went off with a little hamstring strain,” Stockdale told the Chronicle.
“He will have a scan, which is standard, and we won’t know too much about that for a few days.”
Billy Jones went off with a hip problem but Stockdale says that was “more of a precaution” and Jack Rodwell missed out altogether.
The Sunderland coach indicated Rodwell will be fine for the trip to City in the opening round and he also moved to ease any concerns over Jermain Defoe and Patrick van Aanholt.
“Touch wood, we haven’t picked up anything major in pre-season – not when you look at other clubs and see that they have players who are going to be out for months,” he said.
“We certainly haven’t got anything like that. “I think our injury picture probably looks a bit worse than it actually is.”
Sunderland are 13.00 to win at Manchester City on August 13 and a draw is 6.00. Meanwhile, City are 3.50 to win the Premier League outright.
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