Sunderland key duo suffer injury setbacks as two more players edge closer to a return

Aji Alese and Timothee Pembele will remain sidelined for a few more weeks due to injuries, delaying their participation in Sunderland’s Championship campaign. Aji Alese, a center-back, had been close to a full recovery but recently aggravated a thigh injury that had kept him out of action since the Black Cats’ play-off semi-final defeat at Luton Town in May. Manager Tony Mowbray is determined not to rush his return, given what happened at the end of the last season. Alese will need an additional couple of weeks to recover from this setback.

As for Timothee Pembele, the deadline day signing from Paris St-Germain, he had been making progress in regaining fitness after a long-term knee injury.

However, he has encountered new issues that will keep him out for at least another month. Before the international break, there was hope that both players would return to action with the U21s, but that plan has been postponed.

Dennis Cirkin, the left-back who had been sidelined with a hamstring issue since early September, is back in training and could potentially feature for the U21s next week.

Eliezer Mayenda, a Spanish striker recovering from a hamstring problem he picked up in his first training session with the club, is also on track for a return. It’s possible that both Cirkin and Mayenda will get some playing time in an upcoming U21 fixture, which would be a positive development on the injury front.