Sunderland handed double pre-Doncaster fitness boost | OneFootball

Lee Cattermole and Chris Maguire are both in contention for Sunderland’s Good Friday clash with Doncaster Rovers.

Cattermole is expected to return to the starting line-up after he was an unused substitute at Coventry last week, while Maguire has been back in full training after recovering from a fractured fibula.

However, Aiden McGeady is a doubt for both of the Black Cats’ Easter fixtures.

McGeady came off the bench against Coventry but has been unable to train this week, and manager Jack Ross has described the 33-year-old’s chances of playing this weekend as “extremely doubtful”.

“We’ve had a lot out recently, and some have benefited from the week’s training,” Ross told reporters.

“For example, Lee Cattermole should maybe not have been in the squad last weekend because he’d only returned to training at the end of the week, but we were so short on numbers we probably needed him just in case. He’s had a full week of training this week, so he’s much more in contention.

“Aiden is still not training, so he remains extremely doubtful. We obviously managed to get a little bit of game time out of him last Saturday, but probably shouldn’t have.”

Meanwhile, Lynden Gooch, Adam Matthews and Reece James all trained on Wednesday but there are question marks over the trio’s participation in Friday’s game, with Monday’s trip to Peterborough being more likely.

“We’ve got a few that are just returning to training today – Lynden, Adam, Reece – but have had injuries and have been out for quite a long time, and Chris Maguire probably falls into that bracket too,” added Ross.

“There are a few that have returned to training today, which is the equivalent of a normal Thursday for us. It’s quite close to the game so we’ll see how they’ve come through and decide whether they can be around things.

“I would hope a couple might be, but there’s a couple it will probably be too soon for. If they’re not right for Friday, hopefully they’ll be in stronger contention for Monday.”