Le Bris had hinted that Cirkin might be on the substitutes’ bench for yesterday’s game with Blackburn as he approaches the end of his recovery from a hamstring injury, but in the end, the full-back was absent as Sunderland slipped to a 1-0 defeat.
He is set to rejoin full training at the Academy of Light this week though, and should be part of the squad that travels to Oxford United for the Black Cats’ final away game of the regular season on Saturday.
Ballard is not expected to be part of the group that travels to the Kassam Stadium, but the centre-half continues to make good progress as he recovers from a hamstring issue of his own.
He will not play against Oxford, but he is set to be available for the final home game against QPR, which would enable him to put himself into contention for the first leg of Sunderland’s play-off semi-final, which is now guaranteed to take place away from home on Friday, May 9.
Le Bris remains hopeful Mundle could also be fit enough to feature in the first game of the play-offs, even though he is not expected to be available for either of the final two matches of the regular season.
“For Romaine, I think the time will be too short for these next two games,” said Le Bris. “We don’t think he will be ready for those games, but when it comes to the play-offs, we don’t think he will be too far from the team.
“We will probably have Dennis next week, and then we should have Ballard after the Oxford game. Hopefully, he will be available for the last game (against QPR).”
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Harrison Jones has also put himself into contention for a place in the squad for the two play-off matches after featuring in the first team in the last couple of weeks.
The youngster struggled as he made his first league start in the defeat to Swansea City earlier this month, but produced a much-improved display as he returned to the starting line-up in yesterday’s loss to Blackburn.
Playing in the ‘number ten’ role behind Wilson Isidor, Jones made a number of purposeful early breaks towards the Blackburn box before fading before he was withdrawn midway through the second half.
“I think it’s a good example again about young players,” said Le Bris. “His first game wasn’t so impressive, I think he was probably a little bit shy. Today, I thought he played really well.
“Behind the scenes, Harrison works very hard every day and so he deserved another opportunity to play. His dynamic is really positive, he’s really connected with the team, and this was a good game for him.”
