Sunderland will be without captain Lee Cattermole and on-loan defender Danny Rose when they face Fulham at the Stadium of Light.
Combative midfielder Cattermole is facing several weeks on the sidelines after having an injection in a bid to resolve the knee injury which has restricted him to just 14 appearances this term.
Left-back Rose, who missed the West Brom defeat after aggravating a hamstring injury against Arsenal, will not feature but could come back into contention for the trip to QPR next weekend.
Fulham's Simon Davies has overcome a knee injury and could play his first game in almost a year at Sunderland.
Fellow midfielders Kerim Frei and Kieran Richardson have recovered from their respective pelvis and calf injuries but Mahamadou Diarra (knee) is out.
Young midfielder Buomesca Tue Na Banga and Ajax loanee Eyong Enoh are also available after knee injuries.
