Sunderland pair Romaine Mundle and Dennis Cirkin have been spotted in training

Sunderland duo Romaine Mundle and Dennis Cirkin have both been pictured back in training as they step up their respective recoveries ahead an anticipated return to action.

Neither player has featured for Regis Le Bris’ side this season, with both having been sidelined with lengthy injury complaints. In Mundle’s case, the winger underwent surgery on a lingering hamstring injury over the summer, and has been working his way back to full fitness ever since. Speaking at the time of his player’s operation, Le Bris said: “He had surgery on his hamstring today, so we will have to wait. It’s a shame because he worked well during the summer and was ready, but we will support him”.

As for Cirkin, the full-back has been beset by a series of issues in recent months. Initially battling a wrist complaint in the aftermath of May’s Championship play-off final, the defender has since sustained a knee problem that has delayed his rehabilitation. Speaking on Cirkin in a recent press conference, Le Bris said: “For Dennis, we have to wait a bit. He didn't heal completely after his wrist injury and he had an issue with his knee as well. So he needs to rest a bit.”

While no concrete dates have been given on when Mundle and Cirkin are likely to return to Le Bris’ matchday plans, there is a broad expectation that they could be in line to feature in around a month to six weeks’ time, all being well. Given next month’s international break, that could mean that the Black Cats have one eye on their away trip to Fulham on November 22nd as a soft target.

And any hopes of a looming comeback have been boosted by a sighting of both players in first team training. Posting on their official accounts, Sunderland’s in-house media team shared photos of Mundle and Cirkin in action, alongside a caption reading: “Soon”.

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What has Regis Le Bris said about his Sunderland squad?

Speaking in a recent press conference, Le Bris explained how his leadership group now looks following a summer of widespread recruitment on Wearside, highlighting in particular the key roles occupied by Granit Xhaka and long-term stalwart Luke O’Nien.

He said: "Because now we have a new squad and we are still in the first part of our journey, so it's a bit early to decide how we'll create this leadership group. It comes from everyone in the squad first of all. After that, Granit is the captain on the pitch, Luke is the club captain because of his history in the club and his behaviour on a daily basis. After that, you have multiple important players. At the minute we don't need to create a specific group, we know we have these two players and they are really well connected with the group and the club."

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