Corry Evans makes Sunderland injury admission and outlines next steps following departure

Corry Evans admits his determination to return from an ACL injury ultimately cost him minutes at the end of Sunderland’s Championship campaign.

 

Evans spent a long 15 months on the sidelines after suffering an ACL injury in the 2-0 win over Middlesbrough in January 2023, eventually making his comeback in April. Evans made three substitute appearances before the end of the campaign and looked in good shape, with interim boss Mike Dodds admitting he had used the 33-year-old more than he had initially expected to.

“I should have been back earlier, but I rushed things towards the end and that set me back,” Evans said.

“I was able to get my head around the injury, it was all the setbacks that killed

me. I was guilty of pushing myself too hard on the training pitch because I was

too desperate to get back to playing. You have to tick a lot of boxes along the way.

You have to prove you’re fit enough to train and then fit enough to play. I

pushed so hard to get back with the lads, I got muscle injuries that set you back

two weeks. And those two weeks become four weeks, and four weeks turns into six

weeks. That happened more than once. And it all adds up.”

Evans spoke to the media ahead of Northern Ireland’s upcoming fixtures

against Spain and Andorra, where the experienced midfielder is set to make his

long-awaited comeback on the international stage. Evans is hoping that

he will get the chance to further demonstrate his fitness to football league

clubs ahead of his Sunderland departure. He told the media he was ‘relaxed’ about

his future and prepared to see what develops over the summer.

 

Evans said he never once considered retirement despite his long lay-off: “I was always confident I would get back to my

level again, it was just a matter of being patient. My knee is in a good place now,

and I still feel I’ve a lot to give both for my country and for a club.

“Not once did I think I wouldn’t get the chance to play for Northern Ireland

again. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t thinking about international football. My

aim was to get back to playing for my club, and if you do that then Northern

Ireland will follow. And that’s what happened. I’ve missed a couple of years,

and in that time the squad has changed a lot. I’m looking forward to playing with

the new lads because there’s some exciting talent there.

 

“I’m very relaxed about my club future. I’m just going to be patient, enjoy my

time away with Northern Ireland and see what the summer brings.”