Lee Johnson reveals 'embarrassing' selection headache and discusses first-choice goalkeepers

The Black Cats signed Ron-Thorbert Hoffmann from Bayern Munich on deadline day.

The German joins on a season-long loan but with the option for Sunderland to make the deal permanent at the end of the campaign.

But with Lee Burge and Anthony Patterson already at the club, Johnson faces a selection dilemma for the game against Accrington Stanley.

Indeed, during his pre-match press conference today, Johnson mulled over the selection headache and referred to another he had faced against Wycombe Wanderers in League One previously.

He said: “It’s probably like the second big selection headache that I’ve had. I felt like the last game was one.

"That was with three number tens bang in form. Pritchard is a big signing and training extremely well and it’s almost embarrassing that you can’t get him in the starting XI.

“Embleton had a fantastic pre-season and he’s producing magic moments on a regular basis and O’Brien is a really trusted player with slightly different attributes and is fresh off a hat-trick and player of the round in the Carabao Cup.

"So that was a difficult one and this is the same. This is a really difficult decision with three good goalkeepers. All of them have different qualities and attributes, unique attributes which they bring to the team.

“And yeah, you’ll have to wait and see at tomorrow at 2pm when the teamsheet comes out.”

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