SQUAD UPDATE FOR EVERTON

Regis Le Bris has given an update on the state of Sunderland's squad ahead of our FA Cup tie at Everton, with the headlines being Wilson Isidor's return to training and the return of the African lads.

ISIDOR

“He's getting better. He trained this morning with the squad and we'll see if he's available or not. He’s just on the limit and we don't want to take unnecessary risks, so that's it. I think we want to go strong because we respect this competition. And at the same time, we'll have to manage the load of a few players. At the minute, we don't have the full picture because the schedule is so busy that every hour is useful to understand exactly the situation.”

AFCON GROUP

“It's a bit early because they travelled back [but haven't trained yet], so this morning will be really important to assess everyone. They probably won't be available, all of them won't be available, but probably one or two might be. They digest quickly, I think, and this is the quality of those players. It's always that you can win, you're happy, you lose, don't go too deep, because you should have to play again two or three days later. So, they used to play at that level.”

ALESE/ABDULLAHI

“They had many re-injuries and we decided to stay really cautious with them. They trained with the U21s, probably will have game time with them. So, it's in progress.”