Sunderland AFC news: Alex Pritchard's classy gesture to four-year-old fan at Wycombe Wanderers that supporters will appreciate

The attacking midfielder has begun to show why he was once on the books at Tottenham Hotspur and why he was once bought for £11million by a club in the Premier League.

And his performances of late have prompted many Sunderland fans to speculate that Pritchard is the best player in League One after he started in Lee Johnson’s XI once again as the Black Cats drew 3-3 away from home against Wycombe Wanderers in a thrilling encounter.

But he can’t be perfect all of the time!

As the 28-year-old participated in his side’s pre-match shooting drill, Pritchard hit a wayward shot that struck a four-year-old Sunderland fan on the head.

Theo Humphrey got quite the shock when Pritchard’s strike connected and had to receive some attention from paramedics at the ground, meaning he missed a large chunk of the game.

"The ball came over and it whacked him straight on the head.” Theo’s dad, Geoff Humprhey, tells The Echo. “Pritchard came over and was so apologetic. He spoke to us and said meet us here at the end of the game.

"After about 15 or 20 minutes Theo got a little bit worse so we had to take him to get checked out so we missed most of the game!”

Geoff, who lives in Lowestoft but whose family are originally from Sunderland, added: "He was disoriented and overawed but the paramedics checked him out. They were brilliant with him.

“With about five minutes to go, we went back into the crowd to see Pritchard, who was gutted they had equalised so late in the game.

"He gave Theo his shirt, which was really nice of him to do. His head was a bit down and he was so deflated about the result but I told him to get his head up and that he had been playing class.

"It was a lovely gesture. We jumped on the pitch and he gave us the shirt. We’re going to get it all framed up when we get back home and Theo is thankfully fine now!”

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