Sunderland injury news as Northern Ireland boss provides Dan Ballard update ahead of international fixtures

Sunderland defender Dan Ballard remains an injury doubt for Northern Ireland’s Euro 2024 qualifying match against Slovenia.

The fixture will take place on Thursday evening (7:45pm kick-off) at the Stadion Stozice in Ljubljana.

Michael O’Neill’s side will then face another away match against Kazakhstan on Sunday as they look to get their qualifying campaign back on track.

Ballard is part of Northern Ireland’s squad for the two matches, along with Sunderland teammate Trai Hume.

Yet O’Neill has confirmed Ballard is an injury doubt for the Slovenia fixture.

The centre-back needed treatment during Sunderland’s 5-0 win over Southampton last weekend, after blocking a shot from Saints striker Adam Armstrong. The forward then caught Ballard on the ankle, leading to a stoppage in play.

When discussing Ballard’s situation, O’Neill said: "We left Daniel in the UK, he went back to Sunderland to be assessed and joined up with us on Tuesday. He is still an injury doubt but we had to make a call based on his fitness.

"If this game (against Slovenia) is too soon he has a greater chance of playing in the second game."

Northern Ireland have just three points after their first four qualifying matches but could bring themselves back into contention with some positive results this month.

When asked about the upcoming fixtures, Sunderland full-back Hume said: “The mood is still very high. Results haven’t gone our way, but we still feel as a team we can get something out of the group because it’s wide open.

“There’s no one really ahead - it’s all very even. We feel if we got two results here, two wins puts us right back where we want to be.”