Régis Le Bris issues Dan Ballard and Sunderland injury update after York City win

Régis Le Bris says Dan Ballard will be back in Sunderland action on the club's upcoming tour of the USA.

Ballard underwent ankle surgery earlier this year after his 2025/26 campaign was brought to a controversial early end due to a red card in the 1-1 draw with Wolves. The defender has been back on Wearside with his team mates over the last fortnight but was not involved as the Black Cats opened up their pre-season campaign with a 5-1 win over York City. Le Bris says Ballard is firmly on track and also confirmed that Romaine Mundle's absence at the LNER Community Stadium was purely precautionary.

The winger suffered two major hamstring injuries last season, and so Sunderland are taking a cautious approach to his recovery this time around.

"Dan Ballard will join full training sessions next week, which is a good sign and he will get his first game time in America,” Le Bris said.

"Romaine trained last week and was fit, but it was a bit too early [to play] after the surgery."

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Le Bris confirmed that Anthony Patterson was not involved as he waits for his long-term future to be resolved. Patterson has interest from a number of Championship clubs, but no one has of yet been able to meet Sunderland's valuation. Patterson has been training at the Academy of Light to ensure he is ready for the new campaign, but appears highly unlikely to travel to the US.

Leo Hjelde will be assessed in the coming days after being forced off in the second half of Sunderland's win at York.

"We didn't want to take risks, so he felt a small pain and discomfort in his right knee," Le Bris said.

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