Sunderland are looking to continue their fantastic form this weekend, heading to Queens Park Rangers, and they have been handed a big injury boost.
Sunderland injury news
Regis Le Bris’ side are the team to watch in the Championship so far this season, putting together an imperious run of form that sees them sit top of the table and five points clear of anyone else.
On Saturday afternoon, Sunderland make the trip to a QPR side languishing near the bottom of the league, with the west Londoners in 23rd place and finding themselves firmly in a relegation battle.
The gulf in class between the Black Cats and their weekend opponents is huge currently, but the Championship is an unpredictable league and Le Bris is without a number of players this weekend.
Goalkeeper Anthony Patterson is a high-profile absentee, for example, failing to recover from injury after also missing last Saturday’s 2-0 victory at home to Oxford United, while the QPR match is also expected to come too soon for centre-back Dan Ballard.
Sunderland handed fresh injury boost
Writing on X, Sky Sports reporter Keith Downie said that Sunderland attacker Mayenda is back against QPR after injury, acting as a significant positive for Le Bris.
Having Mayenda back is great news for the Black Cats, giving them even more attacking options that will increase their chances of picking up a good result on Saturday. The 19-year-old hasn’t featured since the 1-0 win at home to Middlesbrough back in late September, but before that he scored and assisted twice apiece in six Championship outings, as well as being handed two Man of the Match awards by WhoScored.
Sky Sports man Patrick Rowe has spoken of his admiration for the teenage attacker, saying: “Mayenda has been excellent today. His movement, hold up play and finishing have all been a class above in this fixture. He’ll be desperate to secure the hat-trick.”
Squad depth is essential for any team with aspirations of making the leap from the Championship to the Premier League, not least in the final third, where having strong attacking options from the substitutes’ bench can make all the difference.
In Mayenda, Sunderland have a brilliant young talent back in the fold, and while he is still clearly an extremely young footballer who isn’t yet the finished article, he has shown this season what he can offer in terms of end product.
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It would arguably be a surprise if the Spaniard came straight back into Le Bris’ starting lineup for the QPR game, given his lack of minutes over the past month or so, but a cameo role would be ideal for the Black Cats.