Régis Le Bris explains when he expects every injured Sunderland player back as play-off campaign nears

Régis Le Bris remains confident that Dan Ballard, Romaine Mundle and Aji Alese will all be back to bolster Sunderland’s play-off campaign.

Dennis Cirkin will make his return from injury at Oxford United this weekend and should get some minutes from the bench, with Ballard following suit when QPR visit the Stadium of Light on the final day of the regular season a week later. Mundle and Alese will not play again in the regular campaign but are on track to be fit for their semi finals. The extent of their involvement will of course be dictated by their match fitness but they would significantly bolster the depth of Le Bris’s squad.

Jenson Seelt is available again after suffering a minor setback in his recovery from a knee injury and the head coach has also said there remains a chance that Ian Poveda could feature in the play-offs, though having not yet started a league game for the club there is a major question mark over his match fitness.

Niall Huggins is back training in part with the first team but Sunderland will not rush his return to competitive action after so long out. Eliezer Mayenda misses Saturday’s game due to concussion but is currently without symptoms and so should be able to return against QPR.

Régis Le Bris’s Sunderland injury update in full

"Eliezer is in the concussion protocols until Sunday," Le Bris said.

"So he's fine, without symptoms, but we have to be very cautious with him. Dennis will be on the bench for Oxford and I hope he can get 25,35 minutes at the end of the game. Jenson is available now, Dan Ballard will be available for the QPR game.

"Romaine should be back in the week before the play-offs, hopefully with one or two more but we have to wait,” Le Bris added.

“Aji Alese has the same target as Romaine. Ian Poveda should be back around the fifth of May. He has been injured and he's trying his best to be fit at the end of the season, if we can find a short window and get another player who can help, we will try our best for that.

“Niall [Huggins] trains with the team but after more than 12 months out, he needs time. He's a good guy, good footballer but after so long out, it's tough to recover your level of course. He's really positive and really helpful to have him, he's a very good team mate. We don't know yet what will happen with him."