Bryan Oviedo is the latest member of the Sunderland squad to be ruled out through injury, and it gives Chris Coleman yet more selection headaches ahead of Saturday's unenviable trip to Molineux, where the Black Cats face high-flying Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Championship, and with the former Welsh manager also without Paddy McNair, who was injured in the warm-up to last weekend's 3-1 defeat to Reading, then it will be a huge task for the struggling north east outfit at the weekend.
Oviedo had hoped he would shake off a slight hamstring injury, having limped off in the second half of their home defeat to the Royals, but Coleman announced that his Costa Rican defender will be another notable name on the expanding injury list, and with McNair also out of Saturday's clash then Coleman will have a tough job to announce a strong defensive line to stop free-scoring Wolves, who have already netted 41 goals in 20 Championship games this campaign.
Sunderland, who sit in 23rd position in the second tier, having only amassed 14 points in their first 20 games, are struggling to find any sort of fluency, and their long list of injuries will see Coleman digging into the depths of his squad to try and find his starting XI at Molineux, and Oviedo and McNair will join Billy Jones, Lamine Kone, Jack Rodwell, Duncan Watmore and Jonny Williams on the treatment table, with the latter pair set to be out for several months with significant injuries.
Wolves have been the dominant side in the Championship this season, and a 1-0 win over Birmingham City on Monday night saw them stretch their winning run to six games in the league, and with a four-point lead over second-placed Cardiff City, and a ten-point advantage over third-placed Bristol City, and they will fancy their chances of maintaining their sensational start to the season, and duly inflicting Sunderland's 11th defeat of the campaign.
Coleman started his reign at the Stadium of Light with a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa, but managed to grab a much-needed three points away at fellow strugglers Burton Albion, as they landed a 2-0 win over the Brewers, but their shoddy home form continued at the weekend with that aforementioned 3-1 defeat to Reading, and Coleman will be hoping that he can get some key personnel back as we head towards the festive period, but they are understandably huge outsiders against Wolves on Saturday afternoon.
While a positive result will be tough to come by for Sunderland at the weekend, they will then face a brace of home matches against Fulham and Birmingham City on December 16th, and December 23rd, respectively, so you have to feel that Coleman may potentially have his eyes firmly set on those two games, and may try out some new ideas in Saturday's contest, as it's hard to see Wolves slipping up against a side that have found life in the second tier tough, following their relegation from the Premier League last season.
