Dan Ballard is set to miss the remainder of the season after aggravating the hamstring injury he suffered during the international break. Centre-back Ballard suffered the injury while away with Northern Ireland almost a fortnight ago but had been pencilled in for a return in Sunderland's Easter Monday game at Cardiff City.
But boss Tony Mowbray revealed tonight that the former Arsenal man had felt the injury again following a recent training session and a scan has shown up a slight tear, meaning he will be sidelined for up to another three weeks which would effectively take him to the end of the season.
"I think Ballard is going to be out for two or three weeks, which takes him just about to the end of the season which is a huge blow to us," said Mowbray, following his side's 4-4 draw against Hull City at the Stadium of Light.
"He trained for a few days and we had had a chat and he was going to start on Monday. Is it a recurrence? He felt it again, basically, at the end of training - he did train, and he was fine.
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"It was very innocuous, he was just knocking a ball and he overstretched and felt his hamstring. The scan showed up a slight tear and he's going to be out for two or three weeks."
With Ballard and Aji Alese both missing through injury, Luke O'Nien has been operating at centre-back alongside Danny Batth in recent weeks and now looks set to stay there for the final six games of the campaign.
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