Sunderland transfer put on hold after yet another injury issue at Academy of Light

The Echo has learned that Sunderland's bad luck with injury has struck once again after goalkeeper Adam Richardson was forced to pull out of a youth game.

Richardson would likely have started Sunderland's under-21s team against Manchester City on Monday but was replaced by former Leicester City goalkeeper Kelechi Chibueze with Dan Cameron coming onto the bench after suffering an injury in the warm-up to Sunderland's previous clash against Nottingham Forest.

Graeme Murty's young side drew 2-2 with their Manchester City counterparts in the Premier League 2 despite Richardson, 20, being unavailable for the clash. As revealed by The Echo recently, Sunderland had been exploring the possibility of loaning Richardson out to the National League towards the end of the current campaign so the highly-rated stopper could gain first-team minutes.

The 20-year-old played for Sunderland during pre-season under Tony Mowbray and was set to join the senior goalkeeping group behind Nathan Bishop and first-choice Anthony Patterson before sustaining an injury towards the end of last summer.

Richardson had since returned to fitness at the Academy of Light before his latest set-back and had featured for Sunderland's under-21 team with Sunderland looking into the possibility of a loan move. However, given Richardson's latest concern, that move now looks to be in serious doubt.

Sunderland under-21s are next in action against Newcastle United this coming Monday at the Academy of Light. The Black Cats' first team have also been rocked by the news that centre-back Jenson Seelt is facing an extended spell on the sidelines after picking up an injury.