Sunderland injury news: Timescale revealed on Dennis Cirkin's recovery from concussion

Cirkin has made only one appearance since being knocked out in the process of scoring his side's equaliser against Millwall in early February, and is yet to resume full training after continuing to experience some intermittent symptoms.

The youngster will see a specialist on Wednesday to assess his progress, and having trained on his own in recent weeks Mowbray is confident that he could return relatively quickly once the specialist is satisfied that the concussion has fully cleared.

At this stage, though, the trip to Burnley after the international break seems a more likely target for the 20-year-old to return to action.

"Dennis is on the grass but at the moment not with the team, he's just working on non-contact stuff with the physio team," Mowbray said.

"I think he's got an appointment in London tomorrow to see the specialist who he's working with in terms of the concussion protocols. "If they give him the green light to progress, then hopefully we can get him back into training.

"So we'll be guided by the specialist, he's been keeping his physical data up in the meantime so when he is able to return to full training, he's done everything but that contact."

Cirkin's absence means that Luke O'Nien is almost certain to continue at left back against Sheffield United, with Lynden Gooch offering some welcome depth in the full back positions from the bench.