Tony Mowbray gives a mixed Sunderland injury update after another defensive setback

Huggins is not expected to be sidelined for long but will not travel with the team, who will stay in the North West between games.

Mowbray retains some hope that Lynden Gooch and Dennis Cirkin, who were substituted with injury problems in the 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day, could yet feature.

There is also some hope that Danny Batth will be able to take his place in the matchday squad at some stage, possibly on New Year's Day at Bloomfield Road.

It looks likely that there will be opportunities for Trai Hume to impress this week, while Bailey Wright could also be in line for more game time.

Mowbray admitted that the situation is changing constantly ahead of the trip, and he is likely to give those injury doubts as long as he possibly can to prove their fitness.

"I don't want to give too much away the day before a big game - it's probably just best to say that we've got a few issues defensively," Mowbray explained.

"I think it's fair to say that Aji Alese isn't going to make it, Danny Batth is probably touch and go in terms of whether he can make it at some point across the two games.

"Gooch will be touch and go, and with Dennis Cirkin we're still waiting for the results of his scan, it's his hip rather than his knee but whether he can travel with us will depend on those results. If it's just a bruise, there's every chance he comes along.

"It's a little bit uncertain at the moment - and of course we have to be careful with Dan Ballard's game time after so long out. We of course have O'Nien, Bailey Wright, and Trai Hume did really well when he came on the other day.

"Unfortunately Niall Huggins is injured, he's agitated a little problem in his ankle. It's not serious and it's not a long issue - but he won't be able to travel with us. That adds to our defensive issues, he did so well against Birmingham City before the break."

Sunderland's options in attack are far stronger, with Mowbray now weighing up the possibility of starting with both Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart.

While it is not yet clear if he will feature against Wigan Athletic, Mowbray is also confident that the influential Alex Pritchard will likely make his return to the squad this week after missing the last two fixtures with a minor calf problem.

"Alex Pritchard will be travelling with us, he trained properly with us for the first time on Tuesday," Mowbray said.

"He's a really important player for us, he's very good out of possession for an attack-minded player. He's an intelligent footballer and it's good for us that he's back training. He'll be impacting games for us soon, I'm pretty sure."