Sunderland AFC injury news: Abdoullah Ba, Dennis Cirkin, Ellis Simms, Luke O'Nien, Bailey Wright, Ross Stewart and Edouard Michut latest

Sunderland have equipped themselves well since promotion from League One, winning four times, drawing three and losing three times during their opening 10 games.

The Black Cats were last in action against Watford, drawing 2-2 at Vicarage Road.

Here, we take you through the situation surrounding injuries in Tony Mowbray’s squad:

Abdoullah Ba

Sunderland are monitoring Abdoullah Ba, who suffered a dead leg while on international duty with France U20s.

Mowbray does expect Ba to train in the build up to the visit of Preston North End, and so remains hopeful that he could be able to take his place in the matchday squad after making such a positive impression on debut at Vicarage Road.

Luke O’Nien

The defender is available for this weekend’s clash against Watford but is just one booking away from a suspension.

One to keep an eye on when the Black Cats take on Preston

Dan Ballard

Dan Ballard will be on the sidelines for approximately eight weeks after suffering after the 22-year-old sustained a foot fracture during Sunderland’s 2-2 draw with QPR.

"It is difficult to put a timescale on it," former head coach Alex Neil said before his departure.

"We have a few other scans to undertake - and a couple of specialists to see - to fully understand the severity of it, but that process is underway to ensure he then receives the necessary treatment to get him back as soon as we can.”

Bailey Wright

The Australian was absent from the Sunderland squad altogether as Mowbray’s men faced Reading.

However, it is understood that Wright’s omission from the 18 at Reading was due to personal circumstances and not injury.

The defender has been named in the latest Australia squad.

Edouard Michut

Edouard Michut could be in contention to make his debut after the upcoming international break, according to Mowbray.

The Frenchman suffered a minor injury during his first days of training with Sunderland following the loan move from PSG.

I don't think he's too far away," Mowbray said.

"He's trained with us this week but we're still protecting him a little bit, he doesn't necessarily do all of the sessions just at the moment.

"I think the intensity of the training here has been higher than what he had recently, and so I think the first few days for him were hard and he had to be protected a bit.

"He was feeling it a bit and had a little setback, and we want to build him up bit by bit so he doesn't pull a hamstring or anything like that.

"He's probably a week or two away from being in contention, possibly after the international break he could be."

Niall Huggins

The full-back hasn’t featured yet this Championship season, Sunderland giving him all the time he needs to make a full and proper recovery.

The 21-year-old made an impressive start to life on Wearside after joining from Leeds United last season, but his campaign was brought to a premature end by two serious injuries.

Huggins suffered a stress fracture of the back before suffering the same injury in both of his heels as he began a comeback.

The defender is making progress in his recovery and travelled to Portugal with the Sunderland squad as he continued his rehabilitation with the club's medical team.

Huggins could return sometime after Christmas but has yet to even feature for the under-23s team yet this season.

Ross Stewart

Mowbray has confirmed striker Ross Stewart will be sidelined for at least six weeks.

Stewart picked up a thigh issue during the warm-up ahead of the 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough, meaning he was taken out of the starting XI.

Dennis Cirkin

Dennis Cirkin returned to Sunderland training on Monday, potentially handing Tony Mowbray a very welcome selection dilemma ahead of the visit of Preston North End on Saturday.

Cirkin, a star performer through the opening seven games of the Championship campaign, missed Sunderland's most recent away games with a hamstring problem.

In his place Aji Alese made his full league debut and thrived, scoring his first senior goal in the 2-2 draw with Watford at Vicarage Road.

Speaking to safc.com, Mowbray welcomed growing competition in this part of the pitch.

However, it is not at this stage clear whether the Sunderland head coach will have a fit striker to call upon, with Ellis Simms continuing his recovery from a foot problem.

"Dennis Cirkin was back on the grass today [Monday] which was great," Mowbray said.

"There is competition because Aji Alese’s performance, in the couple of games he’s played, has been fantastic. It’s all encouraging at the moment.

“We need to deepen the squad off when we can by Ross [Stewart] and Ellis [Simms] getting fit but also big Dan Ballard and Niall Huggins, players that can make the squad more competitive with everybody fighting for their place.”

Ellis Simms

On Simms, Mowbray said: “We’d hoped that he might be OK after this international break but that’s not going to be the case. We did say it would depend on how it developed.

"He’s had scans and X-rays, and it might be the case now that Everton want to do that as well. Our diagnosis is that there seems to be some ligament damage on his big toe – it doesn’t look like he’s ready to play for us this weekend.

“We’ll wait and see what Everton want to do and what their assessment is. Ultimately, it will always be the parent club who guide these decisions.

"It’s his big toe, and I know from 20 years of playing that it can be a sore injury and if it’s affecting you running, it’s very difficult.”