Update given on situation with Sunderland's Daniel Ballard

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Football League World

·7 September 2023

Update given on situation with Sunderland's Daniel Ballard

Daniel Ballard is an injury doubt for Northern Ireland's upcoming international games, which could impact his participation in Sunderland's matches.
Michael O'Neill stated that Ballard may miss the game against Slovenia but has a better chance of playing against Kazakhstan.
Ballard's fitness is crucial for both Northern Ireland and Sunderland, with Tony Mowbray hoping he returns fit from international duty.

Daniel Ballard is an injury doubt for this week’s upcoming international games with Northern Ireland.

The defender is part of Michael O’Neill’s squad ahead of their Euro 2024 qualifiers against Slovenia and Kazakhstan.

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But he may not feature in either fixture following an injury issue he has picked up.

Ballard has featured in all five league games for the Black Cats so far this season, but he has suffered from injury concerns in the recent past.

The centre back was only available for 19 appearances in the Championship in the previous campaign, with fitness causing him issues throughout the year.

What has Michael O’Neill said about Dan Ballard’s fitness?

Speaking ahead of Thursday night’s clash away to Slovenia, O’Neill offered an update on the 23-year-old.

The former Stoke City boss indicated that he could miss the trip to Ljubljana, but that he could be available for their clash against Kazakhstan on Sunday evening.

"We left Daniel in the UK, he went back to Sunderland to be assessed and joined up with us on Tuesday," said O’Neill, via the Sunderland Echo.

"He is still an injury doubt but we had to make a call based on his fitness.

"If this game [against Slovenia] is too soon he has a greater chance of playing in the second game."

Ballard is a key part of the Northern Ireland side that is aiming to qualify for the European Championship in Germany next summer.

Northern Ireland have played four of their 10 fixtures in the campaign already and sit in fourth place in group H.

O’Neill’s side have three points from those four fixtures, claiming a 2-0 win against San Marino.

Ballard has featured in two of their games so far in the qualification process, playing in the victory against San Marino, as well as a 1-0 loss to Finland.

He will be hoping that the injury issue will not be a big concern going forward given the amount of matches that the defender missed last season.

Tony Mowbray will also be keeping a close eye on his fitness as Ballard is a key figure for Sunderland in their attempts to fight for promotion to the Premier League.

Sunderland went into the break off the back of a commanding 5-0 win over rivals Southampton.

The result shot the team up the table to ninth in the Championship.

The Black Cats will be aiming for another top six finish after reaching the play-offs in the previous term.

Next up for Sunderland is a clash away to QPR on 16 September.