Sunderland AFC injury news: Key updates on Lynden Gooch, Aji Alese and Ellis Simms ahead of Burnley

Here, we take you through the situation surrounding injuries in Tony Mowbray’s squad:

Dan Ballard

Dan Ballard will be on the sidelines for approximately eight weeks after suffering after the 22-year-old sustained a foot fracture during Sunderland’s 2-2 draw with QPR.

Sunderland expect Dan Ballard to be fit after the World Cup, possibly for Millwall’s visit to the Stadium of Light on December 3rd.

Niall Huggins

The full-back hasn’t featured yet this Championship season, Sunderland giving him all the time he needs to make a full and proper recovery.

The 21-year-old made an impressive start to life on Wearside after joining from Leeds United last season, but his campaign was brought to a premature end by two serious injuries.

Huggins suffered a stress fracture of the back before suffering the same injury in both of his heels as he began a comeback. Huggins recently featured for Sunderland’s youth team.

Ross Stewart

Mowbray has confirmed striker Ross Stewart will be sidelined for at least six weeks.

Stewart picked up a thigh issue during the warm-up ahead of the 1-0 defeat at Middlesbrough, meaning he was taken out of the starting XI.

Sunderland expect Rich Stewart to be fit after the World Cup, possibly for Millwall’s visit to the Stadium of Light on December 3rd.

Ellis Simms

Simms has been absent since the 3-0 win over Reading after suffering ligament damage in his toe, but has now been in light training for a week.

Head coach Tony Mowbray says he will rejoin full training on Monday, potentially clearing the way for him to play some part against Luton Town next week.

"Ellis won't make the bench for Saturday," Mowbray said.

"We're hoping that he'll join the group for training starting Monday. He's been on the grass in his boots for a week now, but in a controlled environment with the physios.”

Aji Alese

Alese has been ruled out of action until after the World Cup break.

Alese has been a key part of Tony Mowbray's side since making his full league debut at Reading last month, but was hurt after a late challenge midway through the second half at Ewood Park. The defender initially tried to rejoin the game but it quickly became clear that he was in too much discomfort to do so.

The former West Ham youngster currently has his ankle in a protective boot and while a scan has shown that the damage is not as severe as Mowbray initially feared, he is highly unlikely to feature before the Championship breaks for three weeks next month.

Lynden Gooch

Sunderland boss Mowbray also gave an update on Lynden Gooch, who was not in the starting XI for a Championship game for the first time this season on Tuesday night. Gooch was withdrawn at half time of the 2-1 win over Wigan Athletic on Saturday with a foot problem and while the head coach is hopeful that he will be able to face Burnley this week, he remains a doubt.

“Lynden was struggling to walk without limping, he didn’t travel because he couldn’t even walk properly," Mowbray said.

"I don’t think there’s any lasting damage – I think he might have half a chance for the weekend – I think it was just a really severe bone bruising that was really painful. But let’s see. I think he should be alright for the weekend, yet he was hobbling pretty badly yesterday so we didn’t even put him on the squad list.”

The Sunderland head coach does hope that Gooch will be available to face Burnley on Saturday.