Current situation on Cats stars who are out injured
After losing to Stoke City last Saturday, Sunderland return to action against Norwich City in the Championship on Sunday lunchtime.
Sunderland were beaten 5-1 by Stoke at the Stadium of Light as the returning Alex Neil managed to get the better of head coach Tony Mowbray.
The Black Cats fell behind four minutes before halftime when they were caught on the counter-attack and Josh Laurent converted from close range.
It got much worse for the hosts straight after the interval as Tyrese Campbell scored twice in three minutes to give Alex Neil’s side a commanding lead.
Alex Pritchard managed to pull a goal back, before a brace from Dwight Gayle put the match beyond doubt.
It is no secret that Sunderland are light in certain areas in their squad and have suffered some crippling injuries during the campaign so far.
Here, though, we take a look at every injured squad member on Sunderland’s books and share the latest from Mowbray on their progress.
That includes the latest Ross Stewart, Dennis Cirkin, Elliot Embleton, Niall Huggins, Corry Evans and Lynden Gooch ahead of Sunderland’s trip to Carrow Road in the Championship on Sunday lunchtime.
Elliot Embleton
Embleton suffered a fractured ankle and significant ligament damage back in December which he has since had surgery for.
The attacking midfielder had to be stretchered off during The Black Cats’ 1-1 draw at Hull City and was subsequently sent off following a high tackle on Tigers’ midfielder Ryan Woods.
It has been suggested that Embleton could return towards the very end of Sunderland’s season if all goes well. When asked for a time frame on Embleton’s return, Mowbray said recently: "I'm not sure.
"He's been back in the building - I saw him at lunch the other day. I think the
timescale is around a month before the end of the season, April or something like that, so we'll have to make a call later on.
"It's whether it is worth giving him the confidence going into the summer that he is actually fit and giving him some game time, or do we give him the extra weeks to get himself fit through the summer?
“We won't make that decision until he gets to that point where is around on the grass,” added the Sunderland head coach.
Ross Stewart
Sunderland confirmed at the beginning of February that Ross Stewart will miss the remainder of the season with an Achilles injury.
The striker was stretchered off during the FA Cup draw at Fulham and has undergone surgery next and is now rehabilitating.
Corry Evans
Like Stewart, Sunderland captain Corry Evans is set to miss the rest of Sunderland’s campaign.
“Although I'll be out for the season and maybe a bit beyond but they value that I can help in other ways and that's what I'll be trying to do," Evans said after signing a new contract at the Stadium of Light.
“Injuries are part of football and there's not much you can do about it.
"It was more of a contact one and it's unfortunate but, as I say, that's football.
“I've got my head around it now and I'm looking forward to the rehab and recovery.
"It's probably going to be a long road, but I've got Ross [Stewart] now by my side who's in a similar boat at the same kind of time so we'll have each other to drive each other through.
“I just want to crack on now and get started.”
Lynden Gooch
Mowbray recently delivered a positive update on Lynden Gooch with the full-back is likely to return against Norwich City this weekend.
“Lynden’s going to train
today,” said Mowbray ahead of the game against Stoke City.
“It’ll be his first day back, although it’ll be a bit noncontact training.
"When we get to the nitty-gritty of the session, he’ll probably drop out, but he’ll do the warm-up, he’ll do the passing and he’ll do the directional possessions and stuff like that.
“Then, when it gets into teams and trying to score goals against each other, he’ll probably drop out of that. That’ll get built up over this week.
“It won’t be for this weekend [a return to the team], but maybe next weekend, if he can have a full week of proper training, then there should be a chance of him being in contention for Norwich.”
Niall Huggins
Before Sunderland’s recent game against Bristol City in the Championship at the Stadium of Light, Mowbray provided a minor update on Niall Huggins.
"Niall has been back on the grass with his boots on, but we'll be easing him back in.”
Dennis Cirkin
Dennis Cirkin missed Stoke City’s visit to the Stadium of Light last weekend as he continues to recover from a concussion.
Before the game, though, Tony Mowbray said he was making positive progress.
“Dennis, it’s probably still probably a bit up in the air with the concussion protocols,” Mowbray said.
"He’s had a scan and there’s no damage as such, but we have to follow the protocol until he’s fully right.
“He’s still a little bit fuzzy, he doesn’t feel fully right and so at this moment, he might join in bits of non-contact training but nothing where he’s going to challenge for headers or go into tackles.
"He feels fine within himself but he’s not 100% and he has to be before he can be put back in.”