Sunderland’s Bailey Wright is out of Tuesday night’s League One showdown with Fleetwood as he faces up to three weeks on the sidelines.
The central defender suffered a tear in his calf during the Black Cats’ Papa John’s Trophy victory over Lincoln in midweek and is expected to be sidelined for two to three weeks.
Like Wright, Callum McFadzean missed Saturday’s 3-0 league win at Burton, in his case under concussion protocols.
Josh Scowen was a doubt for the trip to the Pirelli Stadium with a hamstring problem, but was used as a second-half substitute, while Tom Flanagan and Oliver Younger are due to return to training this week, but the game is likely to come too soon for them.
Fleetwood’s former Sunderland boss Simon Grayson could have his squad depleted by coronavirus once again after revealing two players missed Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Charlton after testing positive.
Defender Charlie Mulgrew and striker Barrie McKay were both absent at the weekend, with the former having reported symptoms during the long trip back from Plymouth a week earlier and the latter a few days later.
Mulgrew is yet to be ruled out of the trip to Wearside, but McKay is likely to miss out under Covid-19 rules.
Frontman Wes Burns returned as a substitute against the Addicks after an eight-game injury absence and will hope for further involvement.
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