Sunderland boss explains Dennis Cirkin and Corry Evans latest in West Brom team news update

Mike Dodds says that Dennis Cirkin and Corry Evans are both still in line to return from injury before the end of the season, but added that he’ll take no major risks with either.

Evans is back in full training after a minor muscle problem stalled his comeback from an ACL injury, while Cirkin has rejoined his team mates at the Academy of Light in some aspects of training.

Neither will feature against West Brom at the Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon and while Dodds says he won’t risk a setback for either, he feels being back in action will be important for Cirkin in particular heading into the summer. The defender has been absent since January with a hamstring issue.

“Everyone is good,” Dodds said.

“We’ve had a good few days. Everyone is where we want them to be. We hope to. He’s back training with the group but not fully training with the group. I think like the other lads who have come back, you don’t want to rush them back.

“The plan is to try and see him before for the end of the season, whether that materialises we’ll find out in the next couple of weeks or so.”

“We’ve had that conversation but for Dennis, Aji as well, knowing they can play 60-90 minutes and going into the summer knowing they’re body is in a good place is psychologically will be important for them individually.

“There’s two trains of thought, one is whether it’s worth the risk and if there was a huge risk factor then we wouldn’t and you can see that a little bit with Aji and Patrick - who probably have gone a bit slower than you might see earlier in the season. At the same time, I do think it’s important for these guys to go into the summer playing and knowing they’re in a good place.”

On Evans, Dodds added: “Corry is back training with the group so he’s within contention.

“He had a little bit of a muscular flare up and I think it just wasn’t worth the risk. So he missed about five days of training with the group but he’s back now, so hopefully we will see him in one of the squads.”