Sunderland injury news: Dennis Cirkin, Lynden Gooch and Niall Huggins updates and how Tony Mowbray's options could change

Large parts of the performance was encouraging and with no midweek fixture Mowbray has time for both rest and training-ground work - both of which are badly needed as his thin and inexperienced squad tries to keep their unlikely top-six tilt alive.

As Mowbray said himself after the Coventry defeat, it will largely be the same group who take that challenge on: "We haven't got a load of options to change things, we have to keep going with these players."

So how could Mowbray's options change, both in the short and the medium term? For the visit of Alex Neil's Stoke City, the reality is probably not a great deal.

Sunderland are monitoring Dennis Cirkin closely after he continued to show symptoms of the nasty concussion he suffered in scoring that crucial equaliser at Millwall earlier this month. He made a big impact off the bench at QPR to offer a reminder both of his talents and the importance of having depth and fresh legs on the bench, but a week later at Rotherham it was clear that his injury was impacting his performance. The Black Cats hope he will be back available soon, but it is very obviously an injury that demands caution.

Full back is one of the few positions where Mowbray will get more depth in the coming weeks, and he needs it. Cirkin's injury has put a lot of pressure on Aji Alese in his first season in senior football, one that he has made a big success of - but he needs some help. On the other flank Trai Hume has been nothing short of outstanding since the start of the year, underlining that he has a massive future for the club. Again, though, recent matches have shown some signs of inevitable fatigue.

Lynden Gooch returned to the training pitches at the Academy of Light last Monday as he steps up his comeback from a knee issue, with both player and head coach saying that left him around a couple of weeks from a comeback. So while he has an outside chance of featuring against Stoke City, the trip to Norwich City might be a more realistic target for his return. That will be a big boost for Mowbray, as he can bring some extra attacking quality and energy from either flank, whether from the start or later in games.

Niall Huggins has also been making a phased return to training, though Sunderland are eager not to push him too quickly, conscious that after so long out the youngster needs a full pre-season to get fully up to speed. But having made some important contributions when fit, it will be a welcome option for Mowbray to drop him into the squad when light.

In terms of the longer-term injuries, only Elliot Embleton has any chance of returning this season and if he does, it will only be for a brief period.

Broadly then, the challenge for Mowbray is to keep Gelhardt fit and improving within the system so that his relentless work-rate yields chances, and to keep integrating Pierre Ekwah and Isaac Lihadji so that they can make more regular appearances.