Steve Parkin gives Jordan Willis and Dion Sanderson update ahead of Sunderland's clash with Portsmouth

The pair missed the 1-0 win over Crewe Alexandra on Tuesday night as Phil Parkinson’s reshuffled defence kept yet another clean sheet.

There was an added bonus for the Black Cats, as Tom Flanagan was unexpectedly able to take a place on the bench.

Steve Parkin said the Black Cats had ultimatey felt that Sanderson, who trained for the first time with his new team-mates on Monday, needed just a little longer to acclimatise.

Willis just missed out after suffering a foot injury at Swindon Town on Saturday, but is expect to train on Wednesday.

“We just felt that with Dion, he's only just arrived at the club and so we felt he just needs a bit more training time,” Parkin said.

“Jordan had that kick on the foot at Swindon but thankfully it's settled right down and he should play some part in training on Wednesday, which is great news for us.

“Tom Flanagan's had a scan on his ankle and it was obviously better than we'd expected.”

Parkin is also encouraged that attacking midfielder Elliot Embleton is making progress in his recovery from injury, too.

The youngster, though, will need U23 games before he is considered for senior selection.

“We should have Elliot Embleton back in the not too distant future as well, so we're hopefully going to have a full squad soon for the games we have coming up,” Parkin said.

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