Sunderland boss gives him a full injury update - including Aji Alese and Dennis Cirkin latest

The pair have been missing for much of the festive period but are set to bolster the ranks when Swansea City visit the Stadium of Light this weekend.

Lynden Gooch is also available after returning to the match day squad for the FA Cup third round tie against Shrewsbury Town.

Aji Alese, Dennis Cirkin and Alex Pritchard all remain absent but Mowbray is hopeful that they are making solid progress in their recoveries.

All remain major doubts for next weekend's game against Middlesbrough but could be back in action at the end of the month.

Leon Dajaku could also return to the squad after missing out against Shrewsbury.

"Danny Batth trained today which was good," Mowbray said.

"Niall Huggins had his first day back on the grass today which was good. He's been out for a while so he won't be in contention for this week but it's good that he's on his way back. Corry Evans has been training and is available.

"Aji Alese is probably about ten days away, he's back on the grass doing a little bit of running. Dennis Cirkin is probably about a week behind Aji.

"Leon is back on the training ground, the injury wasn't as bad as he thought so he's back in the squad and we'll see what the weekend brings."

Sunderland don’t have any fresh injury concerns ahead of the game.