Tony Mowbray admits Edouard Michut's 'mystery' injury has dragged on - but says the Frenchman hopes to resume training next week. On-loan Paris St Germain midfielder Michut has had a stop-start beginning to his time on Wearside, with a series of minor injuries restricting him to just four outings - all from the subs' bench - so far.
He produced his best performance so far when he played the final half-hour of Sunderland's 1-1 draw at Luton Town at the end of October, but has not played since after picking up a leg injury in that game that has proved difficult to pin down. Michut travelled with the squad to Dubai last week for their warm-weather training camp during the World Cup break, but he did not feature in the friendly against Al-Shabab last Friday.
And while Mowbray had originally hoped that Michut would be back in contention for tomorrow's home Championship game against Millwall, he is now not expected to start training until next week meaning that the home game against West Bromwich Albion a week on Monday would be the first match for which he could potentially be available. Mowbray said: "It's just dragging on a little bit longer than we would have thought, really.
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"It's a bit of everything - almost a bit of a mystery - it comes from his groin, but it's in his thigh, his calf, around the outside of his knee. It's a leg problem, though, and we have had it scanned and looked at it again.
"He said to me yesterday that he will be alright next week, so let's hope so."
While Michut has played just 66 minutes of first-team football for Sunderland so far, Mowbray has seen enough of him to recognise his ability. He said: "He's a talent, a real talent.
"It's frustrating that he hasn't been able to stay fit and get on the pitch. He missed pre-season through an injury, I think, and he's just picked up a few knocks and niggles and it has prevented him finding some consistency.
"But he's a very talented player, he's a different type of midfielder - he can carry the ball, he's got a wonderful weight of pass. He needs to understand the physicality of the Championship, of course, but I think he will be a real competitive edge for the midfield players when he is fit and finds some robustness to stay fit.
"He is another option in central midfield, as opposed to Embo [Elliot Embleton] or Pritch [Alex Pritchard] who are probably used to playing a bit higher than the position that Michut would play. We've got Corry Evans, Dan Neil, Jay Matete of course, but it's an area where we could do with that option of another midfield player who can pick a pass, can drive with the ball, and can try to dictate a game from a slightly deeper position."
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