Sunderland’s defensive crisis worsens with Jenson Seelt injury

With Jenson Seelt expected to miss a considerable amount of time due to a serious knee injury,

Sunderland’s defensive dilemma has worsened. Mike Dodds will have just one center-half available for

Saturday’s pivotal match against QPR.

“Gutted” Seelt revealed the hammer-blow in a post on his Instagram account and the Dutchman says

he’ll be out for “a long period of time” after suffering the injury in Saturday’s 4-2 defeat at Southampton.

The summer signing has been called upon in recent weeks, with Dan Ballard and Luke O’Nien having

both served suspensions, while the likes of Aji Alese, Dennis Cirkin and Niall Huggins are long-term

absentees. After Ballard was forced off in the defeat at Southampton with a hamstring injury, interim

head coach Mike Dodds was already stretched at centre-back before news of Seelt’s major setback.

Since joining from Leeds United in January, Norwegian Hjelde has played at left defender, but with Seelt

out, O’Nien serving the second of his two-game ban, and Ballard doubtful, Hjelde will surely have to go

inside on Saturday.

Seelt posted on Instagram, saying, “I’m devastated to share the news that I suffered a knee injury during

the game against Southampton.”

“I was not prepared for this, and I will be away for a while.

“I must put all of my attention toward my recuperation at this time and make every effort to return

stronger and better than before. Every challenge we face in life offers us opportunities to learn and

transform it into something positive.”