Sunderland take goalkeeper on trial as four first-team players start for U21s against Huddersfield

Aji Alese is among several first-team players who will feature for Sunderland’s under-21s side against Huddersfield in a Central League fixture.

The Central League allows development sides the opportunity to complete extra fixtures, alongside Premier League 2 and the Premier League Cup. Timothee Pembele, Mason Burstow and Hemir will also start for Sunderland against Huddersfield, along with a trialist goalkeeper, with the game set to kick off at 1pm.

Alese wasn’t named in Sunderland’s senior squad to face Blackburn on Monday, despite returning to the bench for last Friday’s match at Cardiff. The 23-year-old hasn’t played for the Black Cats’ first team since January due to an injury and is being managed back carefully.

"I had a good conversation with Aji in terms of where he's at," said Sunderland’s interim head coach Dodds after the Blackburn game. "He's going to play for the under-21s on Wednesday so there's no issue in terms of his training or being fit. We just felt a 90 minutes on Wednesday would be perfect for him and then he'll be back in contention for Saturday."

Sunderland XI to play Huddersfield: Trialist, Pembele, Fieldson, Bainbridge, Alese, Middlemas, Jones, Spellman, Watson, Hemir, Burstow

Subs: Metcalf, Bell, Lavery, Tutierov, Ogunsuyi