Keane hopes Edwards’ trickery can lift Black Cats.
By Luke Edwards, The Journal
Roy Keane has not had much to get excited about this season but the imminent return of the player he feels will give Sunderland an extra dimension in their fight against relegation is clearly one of them.
Carlos Edwards was instrumental in securing the Championship title for Sunderland last year following a £1.4m move from Luton Town in January and was expected to be one of the team’s main sources of inspiration in the Premier League.
The winger, who started his career in the English leagues with Welsh minnows Wrexham, scored five goals in 16 games last season and created many more to add some vital momentum to Sunderland’s promotion charge. But the unfortunate Trinidad and Tobago international has played only five games for the Wearsiders this season because of a prolonged hamstring injury at the start of the season and then the broken leg he suffered against Derby at the start of December.
And with the Wearsiders sliding back towards the relegation zone following a run of three games without a win, Keane cannot hide his excitement at the impending return of the winger who will play for the reserves against Manchester United tomorrow night. “Carlos trained last week with the team and only then do you realise how much you miss him,” said Keane, who would have been disturbed to see the lack of chances his side created in the drab 1-0 defeat by Everton last weekend. “He has been outstanding, he looks fresh and he has got over the discomfort of the injury.
“I’ll be delighted to see him play for the reserves on Wednesday and, hopefully, he’ll be in contention for when we play Chelsea next weekend. Unfortunately, when you are injured, you are forgotten about, that’s a fact. Some managers intentionally try to forget about players who are injured, but I don’t, I try keep them involved.
“But they are generally forgotten about and we have missed him. Carlos has been a big loss, on the pitch but also in the dressing room because he’s bubbly and confident. He is a really good lad, quite laid-back and no doubt it has been frustrating for him.”
Despite sorting out his team’s defensive frailties over the course of the second half of the season, Keane is still struggling to make his side more of a threat as an attacking unit.
His two summer recruits, who cost more than £11m combined, are struggling in front of goal because of a lack of creativity in the side. Kenwyne Jones has scored just once in his last 18 appearances, while Michael Chopra has not netted since he converted a penalty against Reading on December 22.
Against Everton, Keane decided to play Anthony Stokes on the right side of a five-man midfield, but took the young Irishman off at half time after he had failed to make any sort of impression on the game other than clearing Tim Cahill’s header off the line.
However, against Chelsea, Sunderland could finally see Edwards on the right flank with the equally dangerous Kieran Richardson on the opposite wing. It is a prospect which has kept Keane’s mouth watering since the summer.
“If you look at Kieran and Carlos, they are two big players for us, two of our creative players, but I’ve not been able to name them in the same side since the first day of the season,” said Keane, who has defended his decision to once again play Jones as a lone striker against Everton. “That’s immensely frustrating because they are two players who give us pace and creativity and you need that in the Premier League.
“I’m sure Kenwyne Jones would have scored a few more goals because he is one of those players at the football club who does like to get behind teams. We’ve got a lot of players who look nice on the ball, but we haven’t really been able to hurt teams. Carlos is a threat in behind, even on a bad day. He has been a massive loss to us and to get him through the reserve game, that would be great.”
