Phil Parkinson has mixed news as he delivers full Sunderland injury and transfer update

Flanagan served his one-match suspension as the Black Cats beat Swindon 2-0 on Saturday, and had been expected to retake his place on the left of the back three.

However, Phil Parkinson says the Northern Ireland international is due to see a specialist on Monday night in order to assess the extent of an ankle problem.

"Unfortunately Flanno came back from international duty with an ankle problem,” Parkinson said.

"He has had it scanned and will see a specialist tonight, so he won't be playing tomorrow."

That could mean that Luke O’Nien stays in central defence, after two impressive performances in the makeshift role.

Parkinson has had considerably better news elsewhere on the injury front, with Denver Hume in line to return after a minor knee problem.

Jordan Willis also has a chance of featuring at the Stadium of Light.

The 26-year-old had to come off early in the contest at the County Ground, but an X-ray has revealed that there is no serious damage.

Willis is showing signs of considerable improvement after leaving the ground on crutches.

"Jordan has had an X-ray and there's no break, so that's good news,” Parkinson said.

"His foot is just badly bruised and it came up in a lump straightaway, so we were worried about it but it is not as bad as first feared.

"It was an impact injury, he was just caught by the Swindon lad's studs, and it's one of those things that happens in football.

"It's getting better by the day, and he will be assessed on Tuesday.

"Denver has a good chance of playing but we will assess him on Tuesday,” Parkinson added.

Parkinson will also weigh up whether he should hand a debut to Wolves loanee Dion Sanderson.

The 20-year-old signed on deadline day to add some much needed cover to Parkinson’s squad, and linked up with his team-mates on Monday.

He is fit to take his place in the squad, but a lack of training last week means that the Black Cats boss may well err on the side of caution.

Sunderland face a hectic schedule in the coming weeks, and Sanderson is set to have an important role.

"Dion didn't do much training with Wolves last week because of a minor problem, so while he'll be in the squad tomorrow we might just need to use this week to integrate him into the group,” Parkinson said.

Sunderland are also in the market for a new additon at left-back.

The Black Cats boss is assessing the free agent market, as Sanderson’s age means he does not count towards the club’s salary cap calculations.

While Parkinson is working on making an addition at some stage in the near future, he is not expecting an imminent resolution.

"There's no news on that at the moment,” he said.

"We are working on something, but it is unlikely to come off in the next day or two.”

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