Sunderland’s Nazariy Rusyn has been cleared, but crucial players won’t be at Cardiff
Although Tony Mowbray has given NAZARIY RUSYN the go-ahead to make his Sunderland debut this weekend, he has not yet decided whether to include the Ukrainian forward in the team to face Cardiff City.
Rusyn transferred from Ukrainian club Zorya Luhansk to Sunderland on the final day of the transfer window, but he had to wait for the required paperwork before he could take part in a competitive match.
This week, it was eventually resolved, making the 24-year-old eligible to play against Cardiff on Sunday.
Rusyn has only participated in two or three complete training sessions since moving to Wearside, so Mowbray is still debating whether to give him a weekend debut.
The Sunderland manager said that Rusyn had received his visa. Well, evaluate him during training to determine where he stands.
“His language isn’t great, but he’s a nice kid and he looks pretty sharp. Whether he’s ready to play in our team at the moment is another question.”
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Aji Alese will not feature against Cardiff, but the defender is now only a couple of weeks away from a potential first-team return.
Bradley Dack will not be risked as he continues to recover from a hamstring issue, with Pierre Ekwah also remaining unavailable. Jewison Bennette is a doubt because of the illness that kept him out of Wednesday’s win at Blackburn, while Dennis Cirkin remains a long-term absentee.
“Aji’s on a progression,” said Mowbray. “He’s a couple of weeks away, I think. He’s on the grass, but not joining in. He’s doing it with physios and kicking a few balls and dribbling around a few cones. Dennis is a bit further away than that.
“I don’t think it’ll be worth the risk with Bradley. I think he probably could play, but we want to give him some time to strengthen it all up. I don’t want to get to a point where he can only play for 60 minutes, then he has to come off because he’s damaged the problem a little bit more.
“We’re taking the time to get him 100 per cent while we feel we can afford the time to do that. I think that’s the wise thing to do. I don’t think he’ll be available, and Pierre won’t be available for the weekend either.”
