'Four or five' players aren't training today, in the aftermath of Stoke City. One of those is Dan Ballard, who has been nursing an injury for a few weeks but played 90 minutes on Saturday. Mowbray did reveal that Sunderland are set to play a behind-closed-doors friendly against Hibs this afternoon in order to help a few players speed up their recoveries...
KNOCKS AND NIGGLES
"We have four or five not training today that we hope are going to play tomorrow. Lots of knocks and lots of niggles. Stuff like tight muscles and dead legs. We will do a few fitness tests and we will see who is fit tomorrow. Dan Ballard is one of the players who hasn't trained and we have to see if he passes a fitness test tomorrow."
BALLARD ON 4 YELLOWS
"It is part and parcel of football. I'm one yellow away from having to sit in the stand as well. We have to accept that the officiating of football matches has changed. Dan is at some point going to pick up a booking due to the nature and the way he plays but that is okay and it will be a good opportunity for another young centre-back to step in."
CIRKIN/ALESE/MAYENDA
"Dennis is about to kick off and will be involved and Aji is still two or three weeks away I think. It is Mayenda's first game today. We are looking forward to it as he is really exciting."
