After Niall Huggins’s last major injury setback, Dan Neil feels Sunderland’s team needs to support him.
Niall Huggins, a defender for Sunderland, sustained a significant knee injury at the conclusion of the previous season. Dan Neil feels the team must help Huggins.
Huggins will miss the remainder of this season following surgery. He was stretchered off during the Black Cats’ 3-0 loss to Coventry at the Stadium of Light shortly before Christmas.
After two years of injury setbacks, the 23-year-old didn’t play until the summer, when he returned early for the preseason. After that, he established himself as a consistent starter for Sunderland, making 19 games in the Championship this year and being called up to the Wales national team in November.
Read also: Luton boss finds it ‘strange’ that VAR won’t be used in FA Cup replay at Bolton
“I text him on the night time after the injury and that’s a real bitter pill to swallow,” said Neil when asked about Huggins. “I think last year he was frustrated, we were frustrated because we wanted him back in the squad and he was picking up niggles here, there and everywhere.
“I thought the last two or three months where he has been playing week in, week out he’s probably been up there as one of our best players. I thought he brought a new dimension to the squad in that full-back area and thought he had been absolutely brilliant.
“As a squad we are really gutted for him. We just have to get around him now and make sure he comes back. I said ‘listen, you’ve done it before, the stages of rehab and have come back better. You are going to come back better this time.”
Read also: Sheffield United now fear number one target is too expensive despite modest £40k-a-week wages
