When Sunderland, Middlesbrough and Burnley had to submit their 25-man squad lists to the EFL

The Black Cats made several signings over the summer. Leon Dajaku signed a permanent deal alongside Jack Clarke. Sunderland also recruited Dan Ballard, Aji Alese, Jewison Bennette, Abdoullah Ba and Alex Bass on contracts.

Kristjaan Speakman also utilised the loan market, bringing Edouard Michut, Amad Diallo and Ellis Simms to the Stadium of Light for the remainder of the season.

However, Sunderland and their Championship rivals alongside other EFL are required to submit their squad list to the authorities after the transfer window has shut, whether it be the summer window or the winter version.

In the Championship, clubs are limited to naming 25 ‘senior’ players. A senior player is deemed to be a player aged 21 or over on January 1, 2022.

That means that any player who was aged 20 on the first day of the year is not considered a senior player.

However, loan players have to be included regardless of their age. So that means 19-year-old Michut alongside Simms, 21, and Diallo, who is 20, will all have to be named on the 25-man list.

The rules state that not every player that is contracted to Sunderland has to be named in the squad but it would be unlikely head coach Tony Mowbray and Speakman would elect to leave a player out when they’re fit and available.

That would mean effectively paying the player to do nothing which would be a highly unlikely scenario given Sunderland’s injury issues currently.

Sunderland and their rivals had to submit their official list to the EFL by the end of play last Tuesday, so Sunderland fans should find out soon who has made the final cut. It must be noted, though, that the lists aren’t always immediately uploaded to the EFL’s website.

Sunderland are next in action against Millwall at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, then facing Reading in the Championship away from home the following Wednesday. Mowbray will be without Ross Stewart and Dennis Cirkin after it was confirmed that the pair had picked up muscle injuries.