---
title: "Sunderland: Phil Parkinson handed boost ahead of Saturday as Oxford beset with injuries"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/sunderland-boost-oxford-injuries-team-news/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Ben Crump"
section: "League One News"
published: "2020-09-17T16:30:41Z"
modified: "2020-09-17T16:30:41Z"
---

# Sunderland: Phil Parkinson handed boost ahead of Saturday as Oxford beset with injuries

**Sunderland manager Phil Parkinson has been handed a boost for the upcoming League One tie with Oxford United, who reportedly have [seven first team players unavailable.](https://www.sunderlandecho.com/sport/football/sunderland-afc/oxford-united-could-be-missing-six-key-men-sunderland-clash-karl-robinson-offers-injury-update-2973809)**

The opening weekend did not prove to be a good one for the Black Cats, struggling to a 1-1 draw with Bristol Rovers at the Stadium of Light.

Chris Maguire was on the scoresheet for the Wearsiders in the final 10 minutes to earn the home side a point but George Dobson was [sent off in added time](https://www.skysports.com/football/sland-vs-bristol-r/430819) to hand Parkinson much to ponder as his team approach Saturday’s game with Oxford.

![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/THE-BREAKDOWN.png)

Oxford, who narrowly missed out on promotion last term, lost their opening League One game of the season 2-0 to Lincoln City.

Manager Karl Robinson has been hit with a major setback heading into Saturday’s game against Sunderland, with seven players said to be unavailable.

Matty Taylor, Josh Ruffels, Sam Winnall and Mark Sykes are all on [Robinson’s injury list](https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/sport/18719412.matty-taylor-among-oxford-uniteds-injuries-lincoln/), whilst Alex Gorrin and Jamie Hanson are unavailable. A seventh player in Robert Atkinson is also ruled out after being sent off against Lincoln at the weekend.

![](https://cdn.footballtransfertavern.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Verdict.png)

With such injury problems at Oxford and their defeat to Lincoln last weekend, that should hand Sunderland a substantial boost in their quest for their first league win of the new season against depleted and potentially demoralised opponents.

However, predicting Sunderland’s results at the moment is a guessing game, considering that the late salvage mission against Bristol Rovers came just four days after an [8-1 thumping of Aston Villa’s under-21s](https://www.skysports.com/football/sland-vs-aston-villa-u21/428750) in the EFL Trophy.

***Do you think Sunderland can secure all three points this weekend? Let us know your predictions in the comments section below…***