Bailey Wright looks set for an extended spell on the sidelines with Phil Parkinson admitting the early signs ‘do not look good’ after the defender went off with an ankle injury at Oxford United.
January signing Wright limped off after suffering ankle ligament damage five minutes from the end of the Black Cats’ 1-0 win at the Kassam Stadium, with Alim Ozturk replacing him to help the Wearsiders keep a seventh clean sheet in eight games and keep the pressure on at the top of League One.
“It doesn’t look good, that’s all I can say,” said Parkinson of Wright’s injury.
“Obviously it’s a bit early [to make an assessment] but it looks like quite a bad injury which is a blow, but Alim has come on and done well.”
On-loan Bristol City man Wright has started the last four games after displacing Ozturk in a decision Parkinson said at the time was a ‘tough call’.
And the Black Cats boss has no qualms about bringing Ozturk back into the side as the middleman in Sunderland’s back three, if Wright’s injury does rule him out for a spell as feared.
Parkinson said: “Alim is unlucky to have been out of the team.
“We made the change at Tranmere but it was a tough call.
“Bailey has been excellent for us but if he is out for a period, Alim comes in and there’s no problem with that at all.
“Alim has a great personality, he is a great lad and while he has been out of the team he has trained well and that’s really important.
“We have gone with the same team for quite a period of time now and sometimes it can be difficult to keep those other lads going but, as I keep saying, they have been outstanding and they have driven the other lads on.”
Fellow centre-back Jordan Willis scored the only goal of the game as Sunderland, who remain fifth in the table, cut the gap on leaders Rotherham United to just three points.
