Sunderland face transfer decision after two injury setbacks

Although Michael Beale acknowledges that Sunderland may have to reconsider their transfer strategy in light of the two serious injury setbacks suffered by Dennis Cirkin and Niall Huggins this month, he also feels that his roster offers him enough flexibility in terms of his defense.

Huggins, who underwent surgery this week as well, will be out of commission for at least a year due to a significant knee injury, while Cirkin will be out of commission for at least three months following his hamstring surgery.

As a result, Beale acknowledges that Sunderland is lacking a full-back, and the Black Cats must make a choice before the window closes.

“Timmy (Pembele) is one who we’re very excited about but he obviously needs to pick up a bit on his fitness because he had a long time out,” said Beale, assessing the options at his disposal.

“I think when everyone is available we’ve got fantastic options but obviously losing the two is going to make us think.

“It’s a long month and I think we’ve got another three games before the end of the window so if we were to pick up another injury then for sure [we’d look to the market], but at the same time with young Jenson [Seelt] and Nectar [Triantis], we’ve got the option to go to a back three as well.

“We’ve got Aji who is playing there at the moment and Trai Hume, and we’ve got Timmy Pembele as well.”

Sunderland will also be without a couple of players in attack in the coming weeks, with Bradley Dack out with a hamstring injury and Patrick Roberts not expected back until next month because of a calf problem.