How Callum Doyle, Dennis Cirkin and Leon Dajaku have fared for England and Germany youth teams with six Sunderland players away on international duty

The Black Cats don’t have a game this weekend after their meeting with Oxford at the Stadium of Light was postponed due to players being called up for their national teams.

Sunderland’s Papa John’s Trophy match against Manchester United Under-21s has been rescheduled for Wednesday, October 13, with Johnson set to hand several of his younger players an opportunity.

The Black Cats boss will be without Northern Ireland pair Tom Flanagan and Carl Winchester, who have been called up for their country’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Ian Baraclough’s side will face Switzerland in Geneva on Saturday, before heading to Sofia to face Bulgaria on Tuesday in two important fixtures.

Sunderland captain Corry Evans was also called up to the squad but has been forced to withdraw with an injury.

Despite being left out of the original squad, Black Cats defender Bailey Wright has earned a late call-up for Australia.

Wright was an unused substitute as the Socceroos beat Oman 3-1 in Doha, while they will now prepare for another qualifier against Japan in Tokyo.

Callum Doyle and Dennis Cirkin have been selected for England’s under-19s and under-20s sides respectively, with both set to travel to European destinations for friendly fixtures.

The under-20 side drew 1-1 with taly at Chesterfield’s Technique Stadium, as Cirkin played 73 minutes, and will now fly to Czech Republic on Monday.

Doyle is part of a training camp in Spain with the under-19 squad, who were beaten 3-1 against France on Wednesday.

The Sunderland defender started that match and could also feature in games against Mexico (Saturday) and Belgium (Tuesday).

Leon Dajaku is the sixth Sunderland player who will be away on international duty after receiving a late call-up to play for Germany Under-20s in two games, home and away, against Poland.

The first match finished goalless in Poland as Dajaku came off the bench in the 67th minute.

Niall Huggins was selected to represent Wales Under-21s but has been forced to withdraw because of an injury.

Sunderland’s next league game is at Gillingham on Saturday, October 16, before a trip to Crewe three days later.

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