Sunderland have been handed a big injury lift over centre-forward Ellis Simms ahead of their return to Championship action...

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Black Cats boss Tony Mowbray has revealed that the striker is "touch and go" to face Watford at Vicarage Road on Saturday, with the club set to assess his situation after their training session on Friday.

He added:

"We're hoping he's going to be OK. He'll have a jog about on the grass today and we'll wait and see. Worst comes to worst, we've got two weeks after tomorrow and I'm sure he'll be fine after that."

This comes after he suffered an injury issue that forced him to be substituted in the 37th minute of the 3-0 win over Reading in midweek.

Mowbray should be delighted

The Black Cats head coach should be delighted with this news as it means that Simms has not been hit with a long-term problem that will keep him out for a significant period of time. Instead, he may return straight away against Watford or, at worst, comes back after the break and only misses one match.

It was recently revealed that Ross Stewart is out for 6-8 weeks and the on-loan Everton forward is the club's only natural option in that position until his Scottish teammate returns to action.

This is why keeping him fit will be huge for Sunderland as they would be without a recognised striker if Simms was on the sidelines for a number of weeks. Mowbray should, therefore, be buzzing with the Englishman's fitness and will be hoping that he can continue to avoid a lengthy injury absence for the next two months or so ahead of the World Cup.

The manager should also be pleased with his potential availability as the striker has proven that he can be a handful in the Championship. He has scored three goals and created two 'big chances' for his teammates in eight appearances since arriving at the Stadium of Light in the summer, averaging a SofaScore rating of 7.08. - a score only three Sunderland players can beat.

Simms has shown that he can be a threat at the top end of the pitch in terms of scoring goals and creating opportunities for others and that is why Mowbray will be buzzing to have him back out on the pitch. His contributions in the final third could win valuable points for the Black Cats throughout the season and that will, hopefully, be the case against Watford on Saturday.