One long-term absentee could return to first-team action for Sunderland next weekend.
Sunderland have had no luck with injuries to senior players this season, with Aji Alese, Niall Huggins, Dennis Cirkin, Jenson Seelt, Corry Evans, Elliot Embleton, Patrick Roberts, Jack Clarke, Pierre Ekwah, Bradley Dack and Nazariy Rusyn all spending at least a month on the sidelines.
Their absences have certainly affected the form of a now extremely youthful squad, and we are only just seeing the gradual return of some of their biggest names.
Aji Alese has made two cameo appearances in recent weeks after dealing with two separate long-term injuries, while Bradley Dack, Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts have all made their returns.
One player who has been badly missed is Dennis Cirkin, who has only managed eight appearances this season.
The full-back was hugely important over the last two campaigns, netting a brace against West Brom to help Sunderland reach the play-offs last year.
His time at the Stadium of Light has been inflicted with injuries though and now hasn’t featured since the start of November.
Dennis Cirkin on the verge of return
Cirkin is set to miss out on the return to The Hawthorns, but the Sunderland Echo have now reported he could be in line to feature against Millwall next weekend.
Mike Dodds claimed after the Blackburn Rovers defeat that he was a couple of weeks away, meaning we could see him make a cameo against The Lions.
The left-back hasn’t started a game since September though and is yet to be brought into U23s action, so it seems unlikely that he will feature too heavily before the end of the season.
The report claims that Sunderland could try to be ‘more cautious than usual’ after a torrid time on the sidelines.
Dodds now has Alese, Leo Hjelde and Callum Styles to choose from for the remaining four matches, so bringing Cirkin back in when there is nothing to play for may seem too risky.
What have we been missing without the ex-Spurs man?
We have definitely missed Dennis Cirkin this season, with the attacking threat he showed last season likely to have been a huge boost for us this time round.
The 22-year-old netted five goals last term and really strengthened our ability from the left flank which allowed him to overlap Jack Clarke – something Hjelde hasn’t been able to do quite as well.
Having Cirkin and Alese as our two left-back options could be a real ‘game-changer’ next season, but the only problem is that they are both very injury-prone. If we can keep them fit then whoever replaces Jack Clarke this summer could have a much more enjoyable time on that left side.
