Why Sunderland could yet face another defensive absence at West Brom as Tony Mowbray faces major challenge

Mowbray has made clear that family will come first and the defender is on standby to ensure that he can with his wife when needed.

Sunderland's defensive options are severely depleted for a crucial game at the Hawthorns, with Dan Ballard not yet ready to return from a hamstring problem and Danny Batth ruled out for the rest of the campaign with a knee injury.

"The other situation we have is obviously Luke O'Nien and his wife, as we're still waiting for the birth," Mowbray said on Friday afternoon.

"We're trying to put some contingency plans in place for Luke, whether it's just having a car down there with us so that if he needs to leave he can do. We're not sure exactly how it will go, but we've obviously spoken about the urgency of him playing in that one-and-a-half window that we need if he can.

"If circumstances mean that's not possible then of course that's fine, family always comes first. Fingers crossed we can make it work."

Batth's injury leaves Mowbray with a major dilemma against a side who have been one of the best in the division at scoring from set pieces. The head coach does have defensive options available but is limited in terms of experienced centre-halves.

"It feels as if it's a pretty common theme for us, unfortunately," he said of Batth's absence.

"You put Danny in with Aji Alese and Dan Ballard, then all of a sudden you get the gravity of losing a proper central defender. We gave away way too many corners and free kicks against Huddersfield and yet he was amazing, making first contact and heading the danger away. He'll be a huge loss for us, against a side who are right up there in terms of the number of goals they've scored from set plays this season. We'll have to find a way, and generally we've managed to do that this season."