David Moyes held his weekly pre-match press conference earlier on Friday, and was able to bring some rare good news with him in terms of injuries which has usually not been the case this season.

Rodwell unavailable although boost to selection comes in other forms

Adnan Januzaj, John O'Shea and Jack Rodwell were all taken off as a precaution during last weekend's 4-0 away win at Crystal Palace and Moyes confirmed that "Januzaj and O'Shea have both trained and hopefully they'll both be available" for tomorrow's match against Southampton.

Unfortunately however the match will come too soon for Rodwell to shake off his injury problem, with Moyes saying that his situation is "not as bad as we first thought but it'll keep him out for a few weeks."

Another boost for the Black Cats is that goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has returned to training following his injury lay-off, although Moyes said that he won't be risked in the first-team for the time being.

The Sunderland boss said that "the medical team want him to complete the time the surgeon said for his recovery" in order to prevent the risk of aggravating the injury, and as a result the 22-year-old "won't be involved."

Pickford's return to training is a welcome boost for the Black Cats.

Moyes still beaming after last week's crucial win

Speaking about tomorrow's home fixture against Southampton, Moyes realises that he is under no illusions as to how important wins are for his side at this stage as he stated that "we have to be positive and win."

Last week's thumping win at Selhurst Park will no doubt give the Sunderland dressing room a sizeable confidence boost going into tomorrow's game, and Moyes said that "the level of our performance was greater than we've had" and added that "some of the players had their best games for the club."

In fact, the Wearsiders' performance in London won the LG Performance of the Week accolade earlier today and Moyes will be hoping that his side can be in contention for the award once again by this time next week.

Sunderland remain at the foot of the table going into the match with the Saints, who sit in 13th place themselves, although last week's 4-0 win means that they are now two points from safety with just two points seperating the bottom six teams in the Premier League.

VAVEL Logo
About the author
Jack McGraghan
Sports Journalist from the University of Sunderland.