Lee Johnson has provided an injury update on Ross Stewart and Tom Flanagan.

The Sunderland boss is preparing his team for Tuesday evening's clash with Swindon Town at the Stadium Of Light.

While the Black Cats have been on a decent run of late they did suffer a minor setback at the weekend after drawing 2-2 with Crewe Alexandra - a result that they're keen to bounce back from.

However according to Johnson, Sunderland will have to fight on without Stewart and Flanagan for a little while longer as they continue to fight their way back to match fitness.

As quoted by Chronicle Live, Johnson said: "Tom has got a deferred injury.

"He broke his foot and that caused him to run differently, that led to the calf injury, and now compensating for his calf he has now felt his hip flexor.

"He's like the man who swallowed the bird to catch the spider to catch the fly!

"Ross is training and doing everything fine, but he just needs to be confident that he is over the injury.

"It's not a mental thing, it's definitely physical. - there's something just nipping him.

"It's not bad, it's just an ache, and that might suggest it hasn't quite fully healed yet.

"He was the kind of player I could have done with bringing on against Crewe, a player who flicks the ball on and then runs and catches it."

Johnson also confirmed that Grant Leadbitter and Bailey Wright are long-term absentees.

 

 

The verdict

These injuries will certainly be frustrating for Lee Johnson.

Sunderland are doing well at the moment but they'd certainly benefit from a few extra bodies as the fixtures list continues to pile up.

Tom Flanagan and Ross Stewart will certainly provide that when fit and so he'll be very keen to get them back to action at the earliest possible opportunity.