Sunderland forward Frazier Campbell to not rush with recovery, Craig Gordon plans to avoid surgery

Steve Bruce ready to welcome back Frazier Campbell

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce revealed 23-year-old Frazier Campbell had some tough challenges ahead of him, after having returned from injury. Campbell was sidelined since last August because of a damaged knee ligament and played his first match with the reserve
team against West Ham United. Even though the player was originally planned to play at least a half, he ended up making an appearance for 28 minutes.

The Black Cats manager revealed he was not prepared to take any chances with the player, who was on the road to recovery. Bruce admitted he wanted the player to be fit for the upcoming fixtures, the most important one being the clash against a resurgent
Liverpool at the Stadium of Light. However, having been a football player himself, Bruce confessed a return after a long term injury was very difficult and he was prepared to give Campbell time.

Steve Bruce, who played as a defender for Manchester United, said while speaking to reporters, “You are always a little bit hesitant. You need a whack on it and all of a sudden, you are confident again and you know its okay. It’s very difficult for any player
who has been out for such a long time. Hopefully we can get enough football into him that he can be ready to make an impact.”

Campbell last featured for Sunderland against Manchester City in August, the second leg of which will be held after the clash against Liverpool. The player however revealed he was not pressurizing himself for making an early return, despite the tough upcoming
fixtures. He said he was delighted to have recovered and planned to focus on his training until he was fully fit.

Campbell said he was focusing on working on his fitness, he said while speaking to the media, “There’s no rush to come back. It’s not about getting back for a particular game – I’ll take my time and get back into the first team when I’m fit and ready to
produce my best stuff. I want to play as much football as I can while being sensible and building my fitness up.”

Craig Gordon keen to avoid surgery

Sunderland number one Craig Gordon revealed he hoped to avoid surgery on his knee, if it was not absolutely necessary. The 28-year-old was one of the many injured Black Cat players and was previously told he needed a surgery on his injured knee. However,
he flew to Sweden this week and was told that he did not need an operation and was given an exercise aimed to strengthen his knee after which it would be examined again. Gordon was unable to feature in the last two matches, but if the treatment works he could
be making a return sooner than expected.