Black Cats duo set for comeback

Oct 9 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

IT may have come too soon for striker Kenwyne Jones, but Roy Keane is hopeful of having Nyron Nosworthy and Teemu Tainio back from injury for Sunderland’s next game.

Tainio is currently on international duty with Finland, despite having missed the last three club matches with a shoulder injury.

But Keane is optimistic the former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder will get the sympathetic treatment, which allows him to face Fulham at Craven Cottage on October 18.

Centre-back Nosworthy is also in line for a return but will have to convince the Irishman he is a better bet to partner Anton Ferdinand in west London than his rival for the position, Danny Collins.

It is the kind of decision Keane has always wanted, and he is pleased by the speed of Nosworthy’s recovery from a torn hamstring suffered in the League Cup third round tie at home to Northampton Town. The initial diagnosis was that the 28-year-old Londoner would be missing for four to five weeks.

“Teemu and Nyron are coming along nicely,” he said. “The Fulham game might be an option for them.” Nosworthy was preferred

to Collins for the Premier League games against Wigan Athletic and Middlesbrough and looked set to be given the opportunity to build a partnership with August signing Ferdinand, a friend of his from his school days, but someone he had never before played with.

Collins was the Black Cats’ player of last season, where he was almost exclusively used at left-back, but started the current campaign in his favoured position in the centre.

Tainio is in Helsinki preparing for Saturday’s World Cup qualifier at home to Azerbaijan, followed by next Wednesday’s group game against Russia. But Keane for one is hoping he does not play in either as he does not believe the midfielder is physically ready to do so.

“Teemu has reported with the international team,” Keane confirmed to the club’s official website. “I had a chat with their administrator who said they just wanted to have a look at him, but I doubt he would be ready for the games.”

Jones is now aiming to return for the visit of Newcastle United on October 25.

He will be considered for the Magpies game if he can prove his fitness in the reserve team game at home to Wigan Athletic three days earlier.

FULHAM will unveil a statue of Johnny Haynes at Craven Cottage before the Premier League game against Sunderland on October 18.

Haynes, who died a day after his 71st birthday three years ago following a car crash, won 56 England caps and was described by Brazil legend Pele as “the best passer of the ball I’ve ever seen.”

It is a fitting climax to the work of a dedicated bunch of supporters who launched the project to keep alive the name of the former Fulham and England captain.

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed will preside over the unveiling ceremony alongside Haynes’ widow Avril, with fans invited to attend in front of the club’s famous stand which bears the Johnny Haynes name at noon on the day.