Sunderland's captain Corry Evans has picked up a minor setback in his return to full fitness. The Black Cats captain has rolled his ankle in training, in another blow after over a year out injured.

Evans suffered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury towards the end of last season and had not long returned to training after over a year out.

The Wearsiders' interim head coach, Mike Dodds, has revealed Evans' return to action will be delayed slightly, having originally been set to feature for Sunderland's U21s in their upcoming games against Nottingham Forest and Manchester City.

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“Corry rolled his ankle this morning, it’s nothing major, “ Dodds revealed during Thursday’s pre-match press conference. “There was a discussion about him playing or not playing but they just feel they are going to give him a couple of days.

"Corry isn’t playing on Monday but it’s more of a precaution than anything based on the fact he has been out for a period of time. Bradley Dack is playing on Monday.”

Sunderland U21s face Newcastle United U21s in a local derby in PL2 with Evans set to feature on the comeback trail. Dodds has been without a number of key players including the likes of Aji Alese, Patrick Roberts, Jack Clarke, Dennis Cirkin and Elliot Embleton, while Niall Huggins has also been ruled out for the remainder of the campaign with a serious knee injury.

“Aji is on the grass,” Dodds said. “He’s part-training, he’s running, so he’s not a million miles away. Pat and Jack currently aren’t on the grass so we are still waiting on them.

“Elliot had a slight recurrence of his injury, nothing overly major, but he’s not out on the grass at the moment. He will be a period of time. He might feature towards the end of the season but I don’t know the exact timeframe on that. He’s not in our plans in the immediate future.

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“Dennis will probably be slightly earlier in terms of he’s not out on the grass yet, he’s making progress with his rehabilitation. Dennis for me will be another three or four weeks at least I would think.”

Given Chris Rigg's recent success in playing for Sunderland's first-team, supporters have also questioned why fellow youngster Tommy Watson hasn't featured in the matchday squads, but Dodds revealed a hamstring injury has kept him out of action.

“He’s had a tight hamstring,” Dodds added. “He is someone like Chris, like any of the young players, if he shows potential he’ll get an opportunity. He’s no different.”