Reece James has been ruled out of action for ‘a couple of weeks’, Jack Ross has revealed.
The Sunderland boss confirmed the blow after the left-back missed the Lads' pre-season win over Grimsby Town on Tuesday evening.
Alim Ozturk and Lee Cattermole also missed the trip to Blundell Park, but Ross expects the duo to return on Saturday when the Black Cats take on St Mirren.
Jon McLauglin will also be back in the squad, albeit with stiffer competition after Max Stryjek impressed the boss.
“Reece suffered a reoccurrence of a groin injury on Monday,” explained Ross.
“It happened towards the end of training and means it’ll probably be a couple of weeks [before he's back].”
He continued: “Lee’s [absence] was due to a straightforward knock from Saturday, and he should be fine for the trip to St Mirren.
“All being well, Alim should also be fine for Saturday and he should train on Wednesday.
“Jon is fine – he trained well this morning – but I just wanted to see Max play because he’s trained really well since I came to the club.
“I wanted to see him in a proper game and he did really well, especially during the early parts of the game when he was really positive.”