Sunderland injury news: Tony Mowbray reveals Dan Ballard setback in latest blow to play-off push

Ballard had been set to return to the starting XI on Monday against Cardiff City but will now be absent for at least a fortnight.

Mowbray will look to freshen up his side after the long trip to South Wales and that will likely lead to a return to the starting XI for Dennis Cirkin, who was an unused substitute in the 4-4 draw with Hull City on Friday evening.

Mowbray is expecting to be selecting for the same squad as his team look to keep their slender hopes of gatecrashing the top six alive.

"Ballard is going to be out for two or three weeks which takes him just about to the end of the season," Mowbray said.

"That's a huge blow - I don't see anyone coming back for Monday. We'll probably move people around for the game on Monday and let's wait and see how we go.

"We have defensive issues at the moment, Dennis Cirkin is there on the bench and he'll probably play on Monday.

"He trained for a few days. We had a chat that he was going to start on Monday - we were trying to protect him.

"He felt it again. At the end of training, he did train it was fine, then it was very innocuous. He knocked the ball, over stretched and felt his hamstring. Scans revealed a slight tear and it's going to be two-three weeks."