Victor Anichebe to be thrown straight back in for Sunderland survival bid, says David Moyes
Saturday 8 April 2017 11:13, UK
Sunderland boss David Moyes has insisted his side have missed forward Victor Anichebe's presence, and he is ready to throw him straight back into the team for their final survival push.
Anichebe, who joined Sunderland on a one-year contract in September following his release from West Brom has been out with a knee injury since January.
The 28-year-old, who has scored three goals for the Black Cats, returned to action as a substitute in Tuesday's 2-0 defeat at Leicester and Moyes is pleased to have him back for the visit of Manchester United on Sunday, live on Sky Sports.
"We have missed Victor [Anichebe] because, if you look, we have not scored enough goals this season," said Moyes.
"We have had as our attacking players Fabio Borini, Adnan Januzaj, Wahbi Khazri, Jermain Defoe and the other was Victor Anichebe, who gave us a completely different type of centre-forward from all the others.
"He was the only one we had different, so if he got injured then we were going to be in trouble. He never got started this season, but when he did come in he made a big impact for us.
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"You have got to remember, Victor was a free transfer. There wasn't another Premier League club took him during the window. We took him and he's actually come in and when he's played the games for us he's done really well."
Sunderland host United at the Stadium of Light on Sunday lying 10 points adrift of safety with just eight games remaining and having won only one of their last 13.
Moyes' side have also not scored a single goal in almost 10 hours of league football, since Jermain Defoe collected his 14th of the season at Crystal Palace on February 4.
"We're in a position where we're having to take as many risks as we can," Moyes added. "Do I think he's ready to play 90 minutes? No. Do I think he could play part of the game? Yes, I think he could. But ultimately, you never know.
"We have relied on Jermain a lot for his goals. I hope he's got another half-dozen or so to get before the end of the season but we definitely need other people to contribute as well."
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