Craig Gordon has announced that he still remains well short of fitness as he battles to regain the number one jersey at Sunderland. An article in the Northern Echo this morning quotes the stricken Black Cats stopper who is still struggling with a knee injury…
“I’m not very close to being fully fit to be honest. I go back to see the specialist in the middle of next month. It’s a possibility (that I will not be fully fit until next season). A strong possibility. I’ll need to wait and see what the doctor says. I’m in his hands and he will tell me what I’m capable of doing from there.”
This comes as significant news for Fantasy Managers due to the potential offered by Simon Mignolet. The young Belgian keeper has started the last three league games for Steve Bruce, conceding 4 goals and keeping a superb clean sheet at the Emirates in gameweek 29. That game saw a 10 point haul with 2 Save Points and 2 Bonus for Mignolet, bringing the 3.9 valued prospect to the attention of Fantasy Premier League Managers.
Although Sunderland travel to Eastlands this weekend, the clean sheet against Arsenal on their last away trip will give them confidence, while City’s goalscoring form is hardly convincing right now. After this, Sunderland’s fixtures improve markedly, as our recent “Frisking the Fixtures” article outlined. With this latest news on Gordon’s fitness, it seems likely that Mignolet will cement his starting role – providing a significant boost to his already healthy Fantasy stock.
Look out for his ranking in today’s Watchlist update; a full Watchlist article assessing Mignolet’s potential will also follow.
