Maybe.... CONNOR Wickham and Phil Bardsley could be drafted into Sunderlandâs FA Cup side for the trip to Peterborough tomorrow as straight replacements for struggling Nicklas Bendtner and Jack Colback. Martin OâNeill has revealed Wickham and Bardsley are on the comeback trail from injuries at exactly the same time as Bendtner and Colback have picked up knocks. And that leaves the door open for straight swaps this weekend â Wickham for Bendtner and Bardsley, pictured right, for Colback. âItâs by no means certain what weâll do,â OâNeill said. âConnor and Phil were involved in training on Friday and itâs just a case of seeing how they come along and how they react. âBut they are both making progress and if they come through training okay, then they will definitely be considered for the cup game.â The manager was a little more coy on the injuries to Bendtner and Colback, simply confirming that both had picked up knocks. But Colback, who strained himself in the warm-up against Wigan on Tuesday, was limping badly by the end of the game and a couple of times it looked as though he might have to come off altogether. Bendtner was also struggling late on before being replaced by Ji Dong-won for the last 15 minutes of the 4-1 win. With OâNeill struggling for bodies, the returns of Wickham and Bardsley would be something of a Godsend. Wickham has not played since the game against Manchester United at Old Trafford at the beginning of November, when he injured his knee at the start of the game. Bardsley (left) has been sidelined with a thigh strain since Boxing Day, when he was replaced at half-time by Craig Gardner. OâNeill accepts he will have to make changes regardless for the Wigan game, but says that he still plans to put out a side this Sunday which will do Sunderland proud. âThe Premier League still has to be the over-riding priority, but we will give it our best shot this weekend against Peterborough,â he said. âThey are not a side to be taken lightly. âWe have had them watched every time they have played since the cup draw was made and all the reports on them are good. âTheyâre a dangerous side in attack and particularly strong at home, so we cannot afford to underestimate them
Good news but let's hope they're not brought back too soon & aggravate their knocks. Marty knows what he's doing though & wont risk them if he thinks it will be to long term detriment.
Gordon, Bardsley, Wickham, Campbell, Ji, Meyler and Turner. All lads in desperate need of some game time and none would represent a 'weakening' of our team in any way, as all are 1st team players by their own standards. MoN wont risk this many changes all at once but I wouldnt be surprised if 3 or 4 are in the team tomorrow and the rest on the bench. Only Noble isnt a regular 1st team player but he would also be under consideration imo. Whichever team MoN puts out, you just get the feeling they will be up for the job tomorrow and whilst I dont think we will automatically win, the minimum target tomorrow has to be a draw surely and a replay. Can we win - absolutley we can. Will we - I would be so daft as to dismiss the Posh but we should be better than them thats for sure.
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/match/71936/peterborough-united-vs-sunderland/preview OK, so only speculation. Looks alright to me like.
And we got beat by a **** Millwall team that day as well at Old Trafford. We could have been in bloody Europe as well if we had beaten them. Story of our lives thiugh lads. Always being let down. Lets hope MoN can change our fortunes eh?
