Tony Mowbray reveals Sunderland injury latest with Dan Ballard and Dennis Cirkin updates

Dennis Cirkin will miss Sunderland's immediate upcoming fixtures with a hamstring issue, but the head coach is hopeful that the defender has not suffered a major injury.

Cirkin was forced to pull out of the 3-1 over Birmingham City after a recurrence of the issue that had kept him sidelined for a number of weeks previous. The 21-year-old looks certain to miss the upcoming three fixtures this week but will hopefully return not long after.

In more positive news, it appears that Dan Ballard is likely to be fit after missing the second of Northern Ireland's fixtures during the international break with a minor muscle complaint.

"Dennis isn't fit, he hasn't been training this week," Mowbray said.

"Dan Ballard trained with us today, so we'll just to have manage that. We'll see if there's any reaction tomorrow and whether he can come with us. Trai Hume thankfully came through his games fine and Luke O'Nien, his suspension is over so he'll just keep rolling on.

"I'm not too sure how long Dennis will be out for at this stage, other than I know he isn't ready to train with us yet and he hasn't been training with us. I don't think it's any major injury, probably a few weeks [absence] with a muscle injury.

"There's no concerns, he'll be fine and back with us in a few weeks. In the meantime, we'll have to find other solutions."

Mowbray also confirmed that Jewison Bennette is likely to miss the trip to Plymouth after picking up a virus while on international duty with Costa Rica.