Shaun Wright-Phillips is facing the prospect of having his England dream dashed by a calf injury.
The City flyer was last night included in Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad to face Sweden in Gothenburg but his presence is threatened by the damage inflicted on him from a second-half tackle by Luis Boa Morte.
Wright-Phillips completed the full 90 minutes of City's drab 0-0 draw with Fulham at Eastlands but Blues assistant-manager Arthur Cox is worried about the extent of the problem. "If it is only a blow, he should be okay for Wednesday if selected," said Cox, in charge of City due to Kevin Keegan's absence with a back problem.
"But he was limping quite badly when he came off and the worry is he may have some more damage to his calf than we think.
"We will have to monitor it hour by hour but anything that boy achieves we will support whole-heartedly." Wright-Phillips' injury only partly overshadowed the only major talking point of an otherwise miserable afternoon - the two penalties referee Jeff Winter turned down in the second-half.
TV replays indicated both the verdicts were incorrect and that Alain Goma had brought down Jon Macken and City skipper Sylvain Distin had sent Luis Boa Morte sprawling seven minutes from time.
Fulham boss Chris Coleman flew to the touchline in fury at the second decision.
It is difficult not to feel a little despondent about Sunderland at the moment because no matter what sort of spin you try to put on it, three back to back defeats is difficult to accept....
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