Injured Sunderland ace Paddy McNair suggests what has made his months on the sidelines easier

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Paddy McNair has not played for Sunderland since picking up a long-term injury against Hull in November.

Sunderland’s Paddy McNair comes on as a substitute to replace Jermain Defoe as manager David Moyes looks on

Paddy McNair has explained that having Sunderland teammate Duncan Watmore working alongside him during his recovery from injury has made things a lot easier over the last few months, the Shields Gazette reports.

McNair has not played for the Black Cats since suffering an injury in the game against Hull in November. Despite playing on with the problem for much of the game, the midfielder has had to spend the last four months on the sidelines.

Meanwhile, Watmore joined him on the shelf not long after with the Shields Gazette reporting that he sustained the same injury in early December. And McNair explained that having his teammate with him during the recovery period has definitely helped.

“Obviously, Duncan has done the same injury as me so that’s really helped, doing everything the same, I’m helping him, him helping me,” he said, as reported by the Shields Gazette.

Sunderland’s Duncan Watmore

“I couldn’t really imagine doing it on my own, it sounds bad, but I think Duncan’s happy I’m doing it with him and I’m definitely happy to have him.

“I got my operation a week ahead of Duncan, so I was winding him up, telling him I was a week ahead, you know.

“There’s a good bit of craic, some days you know I came in and it’s like, you’re devastated, you know. Some days he’s like that too so we can push each other along.”

The Shields Gazette reports that McNair is now back running, so perhaps he may still be looking to make a contribution during the latter weeks of the season if the Black Cats’ fate is still to be decided in the Premier League.

If they do get relegated however, it may make sense for Moyes to keep McNair and Watmore back – if he has the opportunity to call upon either in the first place – ready for them to take a full part in pre-season.

The two youngsters are arguably two of the more promising players within the current squad, so having them fully fit ahead of next season will arguably feel like having two new signings in the team.