Chris Maguire and unnamed trialist start for Sunderland U23s with NO Bailey Wright in squad

There had been some speculation that returning defender Bailey Wright may get some minutes as he steps up his injury comeback.

But the defender has missed out on the game, having been absent since the Papa John's Trophy semi-final win over Lincoln City with a calf problem.

There are starts for first-team player Chris Maguire alongside squad members Dan Neil, Anthony Patterson and Ollie Younger.

An unnamed trialist also starts for Elliott Dickman’s side.

On the subject of Wright, who was not involved against Charlton, head coach Lee Johnson said last week: "We sat down with Bailey three or four days ago and worked through a series of alternative plans.

"The good thing is that his injury has healed.

"We're not going to be putting him out with a potential for him not to get through the game.

"He's in a really good place. But obviously he's lost a lot of training time and a lot of match time. Now as a centre-half there's a bit of mitigation there, you maybe don't quite need the minutes in the tank that a forward or central midfielder would. Bailey's an experienced player, too.

"He's had some training time with the U23s because of our schedule and he's trained with us today.

"He won't be in the squad tomorrow but he could be if suddenly we really needed him.

"The aim is to perhaps look at Monday to get him some minutes in the U23 game, but that will depend on our needs for the Tuesday game at Wigan.

"He's in a good place, you always want Bailey Wright back for his character first and foremost, he's as good as it gets as a human being.

"He's also a very good player and a leader for us."

Fellow defender Tom Flanagan, who is also returning from his own injury, has not been named in the side to face West Brom in the Premier League 2 either.

Left-back Jake Vokins, on loan from Southampton, has also been left out of the youth clash with Johnson monitoring the trio’s situations ahead of Tuesday night’s visit to the DW Stadium to face Wigan Atletic in League One.

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