Michael Beale rules two Sunderland players out of Newcastle United clash in full injury update

Michael Beale has confirmed that both Bradley Dack and Dennis Cirkin will miss Sunderland's FA Cup tie against Newcastle United on Saturday afternoon, but has confirmed that Jay Matete is available if required.

Dack is set to absent for up to a month with a hamstring problem, while Dennis Cirkin has been sent for further scans after experiencing discomfort on his return to training with a hamstring issue of his own. Matete is back available after the injury he picked up in pre-season but given his lack of match fitness, it is unlikely he will play a major part in the contest.

"Bradley and Dennis aren't going to be available, we're going to be missing them for a while," Beale said.

"Bradley has a hamstring injury that will be around four weeks at best, but that's probably the best possible diagnosis that we could have got. Dennis didn't feel quite right when he came back to training and so we're going to go through the process of getting the scans and then we'll feedback when we can.

"Jay Matete is training and has been for a while, he got 45 minutes in an U21s game, but he just hasn't been selected for the last couple of games. So he's available for selection."

Beale also said that there is some hope that Patrick Roberts could play some part in the game, but insisted he would take no risks with the winger.

"Patrick is a big doubt for Saturday's game," Beale said.

"I'll have to make a call on him later in the week. Paddy has got an issue with his calf which we think we've caught at the right time, but we certainly don't want to rush him because we know what the schedule is going to be like towards the end of the season. And it was nice in a way because we hadn't had Alex Pritchard available for a couple of games, and it worked out for us in a way because he was fantastic at the weekend. At the moment we don't have any other injury issues off the back of the Preston game."

Niall Huggins, Corry Evans and Elliot Embleton are all long-term absentees.