Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson says he is hopeful that the injury suffered by Callum McFadzean during his side's EFL Trophy defeat to Fleetwood on Tuesday night is not serious.
McFadzean, who was making just his second appearance for the after joining as a free agent last month, opened the scoring for the Black Cats with an effort that deflected in off Fleetwood defender James Hill.
However, the 26-year-old was forced off with an apparent hamstring injury midway through the second half, just minutes before Parkinson had been set to withdraw the wing back.
Providing an update on McFadzean after the game, Parkinson was quoted by The Northern Echo as saying: “It doesn't look too bad. Even with the injuries, I was about to bring him off and so I was so frustrated when he went down.
“I think and hope it's just a bit of spasm in there as I thought he was tremendous and gave us a real creative spark down the left."
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Indeed, it seems Parkinson is hopeful that that is indeed the case, as discussing the impact McFadzean has made since his arrival in the North-East, the Sunderland boss went on to add: “He got us that goal and then when he had to go into left sided centre-back, I thought he was excellent there as well.
“I just keep my fingers crossed tonight that's not too bad, because he's had a really good start to my Sunderland career.”
Sunderland, who currently sit sixth in the League One table, are next in action on Saturday afternoon, when they host MK Dons at The Stadium of Light.
The Verdict
It will be a big relief for Sunderland if McFadzean's injury does not prove to be too big of an issue.
The Black Cats have already had plenty of defensive injury problems so far this season, so they will n doubt be desperate to avoid another.
Given the impression that McFadzean appears to have made on Parkinson as well, you feel that he in particular is a player they are not going to want to lose for any length of time.
However, they will still have to be careful here not to rush him back too quickly, and risk making things worse, which could leave him facing an even longer spell on the sidelines.