Sunderland injury news: Alex Neil reveals update on Aiden McGeady and ex-Leeds United defender Niall Huggins

Alex Neil says he is hopeful that Aiden McGeady will be able to make a Sunderland return in the near future.
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However, the head coach has confirmed that Niall Huggins is unlikely to play any part in the rest of the campaign due to complications in his comeback from a stress fracture of the back.

McGeady has not played any competitive action for Sunderland since suffering a knee ligament injury in the 1-1 draw away at Shrewsbury Town last November, and has suffered some complications in his comeback.

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“The difficulty with Aiden is that he's had a knee issue that's grumbled on,” Neil said.

Alex Neil is hopeful that Aiden McGeady is nearing a comeback from injuryAlex Neil is hopeful that Aiden McGeady is nearing a comeback from injury
Alex Neil is hopeful that Aiden McGeady is nearing a comeback from injury

“We've had shoots of recovery where we're thinking he's getting closer, signs that he's coming back onto the grass and taking part in some of the sessions with us.

“Then there's moments where it doesn't feel quite right and it's a small setback, and so that's been a little bit of a cycle for us recently.

“We're trying to get to the end of that so that we can get him back on the grass, and get some consistency in terms of his training time.

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“We're hoping that with that one, it's just going to be a matter of time.”

On Huggins, Neil added: “Niall has got a really strange injury, one that is highly unusual.”

“He has damaged his heel in his rehab coming back from obviously his back injury.

“It's a really bizarre injury so at the moment, it looks like he's going to find it difficult to feature this season.”

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