How Sunderland's injury list is expected to look for pre-season - and two transfer priorities it underlines

In the aftermath of Sunderland's defeat at Kenilworth Road, Tony Mowbray noted that he had been without eight players who could realistically have been in contention to start the game were it not for injury.

Not only that, many of those were the players who would have been best suited to countering Luton's direct approach.

The injury issues on Wearside have represented a major hurdle for Mowbray and his group across long stretches of the season, and they will need better luck if they are to match and then improve on their sixth-place finish next time around.

Sunderland's squad will undergo a period of transition this summer but a key focus will be the recovery of those absent for the final weeks and months of the campaign.

Broadly speaking, the prognosis on that front is good.

Aji Alese had little training time before the second leg but was able to comfortably come through half an hour in the second leg, instantly showing what he is able to bring to the side in terms of his speed and physicality, as well as his instinctive desire to drive forward with the ball.

By featuring in both legs of the semi finals, albeit briefly, Niall Huggins also moved ahead of schedule in his recovery. The plan initially had been to let him to focus on training through the final stages of the season, setting up to attack a vital pre-season campaign from a position of full fitness. His place in the squad this month suggests he has every chance of doing just that. Sunderland won't put undue pressure on him after a challenging two seasons, but his versatility would be a big bonus for Mowbray.

Dan Ballard and Danny Batth are also both expected to be fit for pre-season and alongside Alese, their return and availability would go a long way to addressing the height issues that eventually and inevitably undid Sunderland in set-play scenarios during the closing weeks of the season and especially in that defeat at Luton.

Dennis Cirkin's return date from an ankle injury suffered at Preston is at this stage unknown, though there were no indications given that it was feared serious enough to threaten his pre-season involvement.

The greater uncertainty at this stage is inevitability over the long-term injuries, where the players in question will not only need to fully recover but also build their match fitness.

Elliot Embleton is expected to return from a broken leg for pre-season, giving him the chance to work towards a full recovery ahead of the new season.

After initial fears over the achilles injury Ross Stewart suffered at Fulham were allayed at least in part, the Scot was able to realistically target the beginning of pre-season to step up his recovery.

Whether that proves to be the case depends on how his injury develops, but the signs have been encouraging. Most recently, Mowbray said there are hopes the talismanic forward could be fully fit at some stage during the pre-season campaign. That would give the 26-year-old a chance of hitting the ground running, but he will of course have to be reintegrated carefully and that underlines the importance of strengthening around him up front this summer.

Corry Evans is the only player who realistically will miss the start of the season, as he continues his recovery from a serious ACL injury sustained in January. He will hopefully be fit for the majority of the campaign, but that position is one in which Sunderland will surely look to recruit to ensure there is enough depth for the start of the season and beyond.