ALEX PRITCHARD faces a late fitness test ahead of Sunderland's Easter Monday promotion showdown with Plymouth Argyle - but Alex Neil admits the swift turnaround from Friday's win over Shrewsbury Town means the midfielder has not had a lot of time to complete his recovery.

Pritchard has only made one appearance since injuring his ankle in the goalless draw with Charlton at the start of March, with a brief comeback in this month's win over Gillingham only proving the precursor to another stint on the sidelines.

Neil has expressed a hope the 28-year-old might have been able to feature in Friday's win over the Shrews, but Pritchard was not involved in the 18-man squad for the game.

He will be given every chance to prove his fitness ahead of tomorrow's game with Plymouth at Home Park, although Neil concedes the limited training time over the weekend will not count in his favour.

Neil said: "Alex wasn’t fit (for Shtrewsbury). We’ll have a call on him (for Plymouth). But it’s obviously a quick turnaround, so we’ll see how he goes over the next day or two."

Neil has also confirmed that a number of players missed Friday's match because of an illness issue within the first-team squad.

He said: "Hoff (Thorben Hoffmann) was ill on the morning (of the Shrewsbury game). He saw the doctor at ten o’clock and I think he was given some tablets.

"Callum Doyle was ill, and Leon Dajaku has been ill recently too. We’ve certainly got a little bit of a bug floating about at the moment. Unfortunately, three of the lads were missing because of that."