Sunderland team news and suspension latest with Patrick Roberts, Aji Alese and Jack Clarke return dates

Sunderland are heading into a crucial run of fixtures as they look to get their play-off push back on track.

Here's the latest team news and likely return dates for all those players currently sidelined, as well as the club's current suspension situation explained as the 37-game amnesty nears...

DAN BALLARD

Ballard picked up his tenth yellow card of the campaign at Birmingham, meaning he serve the second game of his suspension at Norwich City before returning at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday night. Michael Beale confirmed his intention to bring Jenson Seelt into the side and give him a chance in his favoured position, and it would be a major shock if that did remain the case at Norwich.

Sunderland have a couple of other suspension concerns, with the cut off period for picking up ten yellows coming at the 37-game mark (the Black Cats have played 34). Luke O'Nien sits on nine, and so is one away from a two-game ban. The other two concerns are Abdoullah Ba and Trai Hume, who both have eight and so have an outside chance of making ten before the cut off.

Return date: Leicester City (H) March 5th

JACK CLARKE

Clarke picked up a knock to his achilles against Huddersfield, and looked in discomfort during much of the Birmingham City defeat. Clarke was fine to play through that game, giving then head coach Micheal Beale some hope that there was no issue. Clarke did not train last week and so missed the Swansea City game, but Mike Dodds said he was hopeful that there was no major issue and that he would be available for a crucial run of fixtures, or at least a large part of them.

Potential return date: Norwich City (H) March 2nd

BRADLEY DACK

Dack has been absent since suffering a muscle injury on his return to the starting XI in the 1-0 win over Hull City on Boxing Day. Dack was back out doing work on the Academy of Light pitches this week, suggesting he is on track to return next month. Dodds confirmed last Friday that Dack was taking some part in sessions last week, though is not yet in full training. As such, his return is likely to be a couple of weeks away as it stands.

Potential return date: QPR (H) March 16th

PATRICK ROBERTS

Scans earlier this month confirmed that Roberts has suffered a recurrence of the hamstring injury that kept him out for around a month earlier in the season. As such, he seems highly unlikely to return until after the March international break, with Dodds confirming last week that he is still recovering and not yet back running. After impressing in his last couple of recent cameos, that should mean some significant opportunities for Romaine Mundle.

Potential return date: Cardiff City (A) March 29th

AJI ALESE

Alese has been absent this month after suffering a setback following his successful return to action in January. Speaking a fortnight ago, Micheal Beale confirmed that the left back is still not yet ready to return to training.

Sunderland will hope that Styles and Hjelde allow them to take their time with Alese, conscious that he has missed too much football this season - that he has consistently put the team first over the last year is undoubtedly a factor in that. Like Dack, he has taken some part in training sessions over the last week but isn't back in full training.

Potential return date: Cardiff City (A) March 29th

DENNIS CIRKIN

Cirkin has struggled with hamstring issues and had in January last month to try and sort the problem for good, sidelining him for three months. He'll be back in training sometime in April, meaning there is significant doubt over whether he'll be able to play a meaningful part in the rest of the Championship campaign. Should Sunderland make the play-offs, then he might be ready to play a decent part in those fixtures. Sunderland will want to proceed carefully with one of their best young players, to ensure he is back for good and ready to really kick on.

Potential return date: Sheffield Wednesday (H) May 4th

CORRY EVANS

Evans took some part in first-team training last week, but remains a little way off returning as MIke Dodds explained: "Corry trained with us this morning. He’s been doing bits with the Under-21s, although when I say he trained with us, I don’t want people to get carried away with that. It was very much bit-part training, but it’s still welcome news to see someone of Corry’s calibre in the dressing room out on the training pitch."

He'll need a couple of U21s games under his belt before he can realistically be considered for selection.

ELLIOT EMBLETON

Embleton has had truly rotten luck this season, suffering a major thigh injury while on loan at Derby County shortly after completing his comeback from a broken leg. He was then on the brink of making a return in Sunderland's U21 side, only to see the game called off due to a waterlogged pitch. The very next day, he rolled his ankle in a training session. Scans have confirmed that he will be missing for around a month, and will then need to build back up.

The attacking midfielder could yet still feature for Sunderland this season but increasingly the focus will be on making sure he is really ready to hit the ground running in pre season.

NIALL HUGGINS

Huggins suffered a major knee ligament injury during Michael Beale's first game in charge and is not expected to be fully fit until 2025.