Wright and Scowen ready to play their part whenever needed

Phil Parkinson says that Bailey Wright and Josh Scowen are ready to start whenever called upon.

Scowen became Sunderland’s third signing of the January window on Monday night, joining from QPR for an undisclosedfee.Wrightjoined last week and was an unused substitute for the 0-0 draw with Doncaster Rovers.

The Black Cats travel to Prenton Park tonight to face

TranmereRoversandbothare settobeincludedinthematchday squad.

Parkinson has had a very settled starting XI of late but Sunderland face a hectic scheduleinthecomingweeks, andhesayshewillhavenoconcerns throwing the pair into action when needed.

“Josh and Bailey are ready,” Parkinson said. “There are no problems with those two.”

One player further away from his full debut is striker Kyle Lafferty. The Northern Ireland international has made two appearances from the bench since joining on a short-term deal, but missed out on a chance to build on his match fitness in a practice game last Saturday.

Heislikelytobeincludedin thesquad,however,withDuncan Watmore and Will Grigg unavailable due to minor injuries. “Kyle unfortunately got a dead leg the other night when he came on, so couldn’t play on Saturday,” Parkinson said.

“We were a bit frustrated hecouldn'tplaybutthephysio wasobviouslyadamantthatit would be a risk so quickly after picking up a dead leg.

“But he trained on Tuesday and he’s getting there [towards a start].”

Meanwhile, Parkinson says he will only allow Ethan Robson to leave on loan this week if he can bring in adequate cover.

Robson returned from a successful loan at Grimsby Town at the beginning of this month in order to prove he has a first-team future. The 23-year-old is out of contract in the summer and has made a positive impression on Phil Parkinson in training.

“Ethaniswithusatthemoment,” Parkinson said. “We looked at him as a left wingback in training on Saturday, because he's played wide left in his career before.

“He did great and got a goal. He wants to play, but equally we couldn’t let a loan happen unless we've got that cover.”

Robson will most likely head back to League Two, with Grimsby at the front of the queue to take him back.