Gus Poyet has revealed that Steven Fletcher will not play in Sunderland's Capital One Cup semi-final second leg against Manchester United on Wednesday as he does not want him to aggravate an injury.
The 26-year-old striker featured for 18 minutes in Sunderland's 2-2 draw at home to Southampton on Saturday, but is nursing an Achilles problem that Poyet is unwilling to take risks with.
"Sometimes you have to think of the player, and I did not want to be responsible for him getting injured by starting him in the game," Poyet told the Sunderland Echo.
"But he came through it okay, and we just have to assess how it will be in the next few days."
Sunderland are 90 minutes away from a final at Wembley having won the first leg 2-1 at the Stadium of Light.
