Alese in Sunderland squad for Luton – doubts about Pritchard & Roberts

Pritchard and Roberts both hobbled away in the second half of Saturday’s 2-1 win at the Stadium of Light. Neither player has sustained a serious long-term injury, but while one was able to train this morning, the other was not. Both will be re-evaluated in the morning before Tony Mowbray makes a final decision on whether they will start tomorrow night.

“I would suggest Pritchard and Roberts are ready to go,” said the Sunderland head coach. “They could both make it, they both could not make it, or one could make it, we’ll have to wait and see.

“I’m sitting here today and I don’t really know. One of them trained today, one of them didn’t, so let’s see if there’s a reaction. The other says, “I should be feeling better in 24 hours. Let’s see how it is tomorrow.”

Alese has been out since picking up a hamstring injury in early March but the defender has improved his fitness over the past two weeks.

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He was not considered for Saturday’s first leg but will be benched tomorrow as his size and physicality make him a potentially valuable asset should Luton launch an airstrike in the closing stages of the game.

“Alese trained today which is good,” said Mowbray. “I spoke to him about maybe sitting on the bench. He is a 1.9 meter tall boy who can run up and down all day. So maybe if they chase a goal and put things in our penalty area, we’ll put him on the pitch.

“It would be good to have someone over six feet tall in there to lead the whole thing. We’re not far from where we were the other day, but it’s good to have Alese and (Niall) Huggins back in training.”