Everything Sunderland boss Alex Neil said about Nathan Broadhead, Alex Pritchard and team news ahead of Crewe clash

That brings us to the end of the TV section of the press conference, but Neil has also spoken to the written press, including our SAFC writer Phil Smith.

We’ll have more from the Black Cats boss, as well as build-up to Saturday’s game against Crewe over on the SAFC section of the Echo website.

See you soon.

“The key for us is that we get everybody back and everybody contributing as we get into the end of the season.

“Unfortunately since I’ve been here that hasn’t been the case.

“You look at Danny Batth who is another example, Danny hasn’t kicked a ball since I’ve been here.

“We have done a lot of good work without a lot of key players which I think is important as well.”

“What I would like is a fully-fit squad with all my injured players back available, and the lads who have played too many minutes feeling refreshed, and the lads who haven’t played enough minutes getting up to speed.

“I think we have made inroads into each and every one of those categories which is good.”

Do you think you can get there?: “We can get closer.

“The problem you’ve got is injuries is something you can’t really do anything about.

“The simple fact is that when I walked in the building Broadhead had been out for two months, Luke O’Nien had been out for three and a half months and we have managed to incorporate him back in.

“Aiden McGeady is still missing and now Alex Pritchard has now hurt his ankle and was playing really well.

“They are things you can’t really control.”

“What I can try and control is to manage the minutes of the lads who have played too much football, and manage the minutes of the lads who haven’t played enough football.

“I think we have struck a decent balance with that and I’ve been quite pleased with that.”

“I think in the background there have been discussions about further afield, but I’m not really paying too much attention to that at the moment.

“The main priority for me at the moment is what the next game looks like.

“I think when people come in they talk about turning clubs around and long-term visions and long-term plans. The simple fact is as a manager is that if you don’t get the short term right there is no long term.

“We need to try and get points and try to win games so that’s where my focus lies.”

“I think I’ve been at both ends of the spectrum at Norwich where you are expected to win, which is the case here, or when you go to big stadiums and can go and express yourself.

“That can be quite liberating as a player because when you go somewhere where there’s not a lot of expectation and the pressure is on the other team.

“That is what happens when we play our home games and teams can come and sort of feel free to play.

“That is something that if you want to be able to play at a club like this you need to be able to handle and turn that into a positive for us.

“We need to take that expectation and manifest it into something positive.”

“He’s making good progress Al and I don’t think it will be as bad as first feared.

“We were probably thinking at the time it was going to be a six to eight week injury but it’s certainly not going to be as bad as that. That’s a positive.

“I don’t really want to put a timeframe on it because we feared the worst, but it’s certainly not in that ballpark in terms of a time frame.”

On Nathan Broadhead: “I was more that he felt stiffness in his hamstring more than anything else.

“I was hoping he was going to be fit for the last game so we were disappointed he didn’t make it.”

“I think the goal we conceded was disappointing because we had kept two clean sheets in the previous weeks, obviously an individual error, but we responded well by scoring three goals.

“Not necessarily the performance of the match itself but at this stage of the season it’s more about getting points on the board.”

On finding a way to win: “What I will say is everybody wants it all don’t they.

“The way you want to do it is you want to develop players, play well, and you want to win games.

“If you ask me what my preference is right now that is winning games

“Getting over the line and getting those points on the board is the most important thing and if it means sometimes it is going to be a little bit scrappy, we just have to find a way of getting the job done.”

Striker Nathan Broadhead wasn’t in the squad against Fleetwood after playing 70 minutes against Charlton last weekend.

The Everton loanee has just returned from a long-term hamstring injury and felt some tightness in the muscle after the Charlton match.

Neil said Broadhead ‘should hopefully be OK over the next couple of days’ and the forward did train on Thursday.

Alex Pritchard had a scan on his ankle injury this week and it was hoped the setback isn’t as bad as first feared.

Defender Danny Batth has also been managing an ankle issue, while Leon Dajaku has missed the last two fixtures through injury.

Both players also trained yesterday.

We should get further updates when Neil speaks to the press this morning.

Hello and welcome to today’s SAFC live blog.

Black Cats boss Alex Neil is set to hold his pre-match press conference at 9am this morning ahead of Saturday’s game against Crewe, and we’ll have live updates right here.

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