Niall Huggins is the latest defender to join Sunderland's lengthy injury list, with boss Tony Mowbray waiting on a number of players before picking his team ahead of tomorrow's trip to Wigan Athletic. Huggins is suffering from an ankle problem and will not travel to the North-West for the Black Cats' double header at Wigan followed by Sunday's New Year's Day game at Blackpool.
He joins fellow defenders Lynden Gooch (hamstring), Dennis Cirkin (hip) - who both came off in the Boxing Day home win against Blackburn Rovers - along with Aji Alese (foot), and Danny Batth (calf) in the treatment room, although Mowbray has not yet completely ruled Gooch, Cirkin, and Batth out of the forthcoming games. Full-back Huggins spent more than a year on the sidelines with back and then heel injuries, before making his comeback in the win at Birmingham City in November but has not featured since.
"I don't want to give too much away the day before a big game - it's probably just best to say that we've got a few issues defensively," said Mowbray. "I think it's fair to say that Aji Alese isn't going to make it, Danny Batth is probably touch and go in terms of whether he can make it at some point across the two games.
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"Gooch will be touch and go, and with Dennis Cirkin we're still waiting for the results of his scan, it's his hip rather than his knee but whether he can travel with us will depend on those results. If it's just a bruise, there's every chance he comes along.
"It's a little bit uncertain at the moment - and of course we have to be careful with Dan Ballard's game time after so long out. We of course have [Luke] O'Nien, Bailey Wright, and Trai Hume did really well when he came on the other day.
"Unfortunately Niall Huggins is injured, he's agitated a little problem in his ankle. It's not serious and it's not a long issue - but he won't be able to travel with us. That adds to our defensive issues, he did so well against Birmingham City before the break."
Midfielder Alex Pritchard has missed the last two games with a calf injury but resumed full training yesterday, and will travel with the squad to the North-West, where they will stay between the Wigan and Blackpool matches.
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