Sunderland attacker Aiden McGeady is set to miss his side's match at home to Blackpool on Saturday afternoon following an incident at the club's Academy of Light training ground earlier this week, a report from the Sunderland Echo has claimed.

The exact nature of the incident has yet to be revealed, although it is understood to have taken place at the club's training ground at some point this week, and it now said to be unlikely that McGeady will feature in the matchday squad at the weekend.

McGeady has made 21 appearances in all competitions for the Black Cats this season, and is the club's top scorer with six goals in total, but was an unused substitute in his side's 1-0 defeat at Gillingham last weekend.

That defeat continued what has been a difficult start to life at the Stadium of Light for new Sunderland boss Phil Parkinson, who has won just two of his 12 games in charge of the club in all competitions.

It is a run that means Sunderland go into Saturday's game 11th in the League One table, five points adrift of the play-off spots, and left Parkinson - who is set to hold his pre-match press conference later on Thursday afternoon - already under pressure.

McGeady only signed a new contract with Sunderland in July, with his new deal set to keep him at the club until the summer of 2021.

The Verdict

This is just about the last thing Sunderland need right now.

With things not going well on the pitch, Parkinson and co. could well do without the scrutiny into what is going on behind the scenes at the club.

While it is hard to know at this stage what exactly has happened, the fact that it appears to have already ruled McGeady out of this weekend suggests there is a serious nature to it, which doesn't bode well for the mood behind the scenes, and also leaves the club without a key player when they could well do with some positive results quickly.