Sport
Sunderlands revival;injury boost and stoke city mepham blow
SUNDERLAND will welcome back Dennis Cirkin for Saturday’s visit of Stoke City, with the left-back ready to return after a three-game absence.
But Regis Le Bris has confirmed Cirkin is now available to return and is set to go straight back into the side on Saturday.
Le Bris also confirmed that Sunderland opted against appealing Chris Mepham’s red card at Sheffield United, meaning the defender will now serve a one-match ban. Had Sunderland been successful in their appeal, Mepham would have been downgraded to a yellow card – and would still have missed Saturday’s game given he was already on four yellows. Now, he’ll sit out this weekend but when he returns the cut-off for five yellow cards will have passed, meaning he’ll no longer be one caution away from a further one-game suspension.
Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham are also in that position ahead of Saturday’s visit of Stoke, which is the last game before the cut-off.
Le Bris said: “They have to manage one more game. When they are on the pitch they have to make the right decisions.
“Sometimes a yellow card could be the right decision for the team or flow of the game, to avoid a counter attack, for example. We’ll see. So far they’ve managed the situation well for a long period. I have to trust the players.”
The return of Cirkin is a huge boost, and with Mepham missing Luke O’Nien is likely to move back to centre-half alongside Dan Ballard.
Le Bris said: “We have many options now. Probably the back four is the big strength for us. We have many options, even with suspensions or injuries.
“Dennis is a good player and has played very well so far. If he’s available, that’s good for us.”
