Jack Ross gives update on Josh Maja's injury and chances of him playing against Southend

Sunderland made it three away wins on the bounce in League One thanks to Chris Maguire’s 47th minute winner, the Black Cats sealing another victory despite being without their nine-goal top scorer.

Ross confirmed Maja hadn’t recovered sufficiently to take part at the Keepmoat Stadium but hopes he will be able to call upon him this weekend when Southend visit Wearside.

“It was his ankle injury, he didn’t recover as well as we’d hoped,” said Ross.

“We anticipated he would be involved but it didn’t recover well enough.

“It was a blow for us but we showed our strength to win without a player that has contributed so much this season.

“I would be hopeful he’d be available Saturday, it is not a major injury, but I was hopeful for last night too. We have a few days. I would hope to have him in the squad at least.”

Ross added: “I am always sensible with things like that, there is a bigger picture. He wasn’t comfortable with it.

“He is 19, he has a long career ahead of him. I was confident with what I had and the form they were in, I knew they would be able to deal with it.”