Sunderland's play-off rivals still without nine injured players ahead of Championship run-in

Sunderland defeated West Brom on Sunday to move into the top-six with two games remaining.
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Carlos Corberan, though, is currently without nine players due to injury following the defeat to Sunderland at The Hawthorns in the Championship on Sunday.

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Adam Reach will not play again this season and neither will Daryl Dike. Dara O’Shea is also expected to miss the rest of West Brom’s Championship campaign alongside Reyes Cleary.

WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND - APRIL 23: John Swift of West Bromwich Albion celebrates with teammates after scoring the team's first goal from the penalty spot during the Sky Bet Championship between West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland at The Hawthorns on April 23, 2023 in West Bromwich, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND - APRIL 23: John Swift of West Bromwich Albion celebrates with teammates after scoring the team's first goal from the penalty spot during the Sky Bet Championship between West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland at The Hawthorns on April 23, 2023 in West Bromwich, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
WEST BROMWICH, ENGLAND - APRIL 23: John Swift of West Bromwich Albion celebrates with teammates after scoring the team's first goal from the penalty spot during the Sky Bet Championship between West Bromwich Albion and Sunderland at The Hawthorns on April 23, 2023 in West Bromwich, England. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)

Nathaniel Chalobah is also a serious doubt for West Brom’s remaining three games but it is a possibility that he could play some part. Matt Phillips is currently recovering from surgery and is another West Brom player unlikely to play again this season.

Martin Kelly is another out for the rest of the season after returning from his loan at Wigan Athletic with Grady Diangana set to miss the end of the campaign. Kean Bryan is also currently out injured but could feature again this season.

Millwall gear up for play-off fight

Millwall are also in with a strong shout of making the Championship play-off. The London club are level on points with Sunderland but have fallen behind the Black Cats on goal difference with both clubs having two games left to play.

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“There’s two games to go and we’ve got to go and win both games,” assistant manager Adam Barrett said. “If you stop believing and stop wanting to get in there, you’ve got a problem – but that won’t happen.

"We’ll make sure that we’re driving the players, we’ll be coming in next week ready to work. We’ve got an extremely important game, Blackpool, away.

“There’s going to be twists and turns. We’ve seen it in every division over the last few weeks, so we’ve got to go there believing. We’ve got to win both games, it’s as simple as that.

“No way are we going to give up on anything. We’ve worked so hard this year to be in this position and competing for a play-off spot. What we’ve got to do is to show more bravery and we’ve got to show a competitiveness that we’re going to fight tooth and nail until the end of the season. Who knows? You never know what’s going to happen.

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“A lot of teams are playing each other where they’re going to drop points. But the disappointing thing today is that you’ve got to take control of our own business first and foremost. You can’t be relying on anyone else, and at the moment we’ve got to concentrate on Blackpool.

“Whatever happens elsewhere happens – that’s out of our control. There’s no way we’ll be giving up on anything. We’ve got to rally, which we will do.

“We’ve got a group in there of players that care. They’re hurting at the moment. All of them are extremely disappointed. One thing we will do is roll our sleeves up and we’ll come back.

“We’re still in it and anything can happen. I’m sure that there will be a few twists and turns along the way.”