Sunderland AFC injury worry emerges over another key player ahead of Millwall clash

Football League World

·24 marzo 2025

Sunderland AFC injury worry emerges over another key player ahead of Millwall clash

Sunderland's Trai Hume has pulled out of Northern Ireland's game against Sweden due to an injury issue.

Sunderland right-back Trai Hume has returned from international duty with Northern Ireland due to a hip problem.

OneFootball Video

The 23-year-old has once again been a consistent, reliable performer for Regis Le Bris’ side, as he has missed just one game, due to suspension, for the Black Cats this season.

So, he has been key to Sunderland as they chase promotion to the Premier League, with a fourth-placed finish looking inevitable for the Wearside outfit.

Trai Hume pulls out of Northern Ireland squad due to injury

However, Le Bris will still want his team to go into the play-offs with momentum, so he will be hoping that Hume can still play a big role over the remaining months.

Yet, the defender has a potential injury issue, as Northern Ireland boss Michael O'Neill told reporters, as quoted by the Northern Echo, that they have let the player return to Sunderland, so a hip problem can be ‘investigated’.

“Trai is injured. He came into the camp with a hip issue. He’s not really been training with Sunderland, he's just been playing games and getting through them. “He felt quite sore after the game on Friday, so we felt rather than put him through that again, it was better to send him back to the club and have that investigated. It’s not something that we want to drag on or that Sunderland will want to drag on because they’ve got a lot to play for. We would not want him to come here and subsequently be missing games in June as well.”

Trai Hume is crucial to Sunderland’s promotion chances

Obviously, it’s far too soon to speculate on the extent of any injury, and Sunderland will hope that this is a precautionary measure, particularly as Northern Ireland only have a friendly game to play, which is at Sweden on Tuesday evening.

But, there’s no getting away from the fact that losing Hume would be a real setback, as he is a top performer at this level - as he has proven since the start of last season.

As well as that, any injury would be coming at a bad time for Le Bris, as Dennis Cirkin is out with a hamstring issue, and Dan Ballard is also absent.

There is a lack of senior options at right-back behind Hume, and even though the versatile Luke O’Nien could fill in, he will be required in other positions, so the squad is stretched right now.