Sunderland: Ellis Simms out of Preston game with injury

Simms hobbled from the field during the first half of the Black Cats’ 3-0 win at Reading, and was forced to sit out the 2-2 draw with Watford that preceded the international break.

It had been hoped the loanee would be ready to return after a two-week period of recovery, but his injury issues remain unresolved, and he will not feature against Preston.

Instead, Sunderland’s medical team are having to work with their counterparts at Everton to come up with a treatment plan for the next stage of Simms’ rehabilitation.

“We’d hoped he (Simms) might be alright after this international break,” said Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray. “But that’s not going to be the case.

“We did say it would depend on how it developed. He’s had scans and X-rays, and it might be the case now that Everton want to do that as well.

“Our diagnosis is that there seems to be some ligament damage on his big toe – it doesn’t look like he’s ready to play for us this weekend. 

“We’ll wait and see what Everton want to do and what their assessment is. Ultimately, it will always be the parent club who guide these decisions.

“It’s his big toe, and I know from 20 years of playing that it can be a sore injury and if it’s affecting you running, it’s very difficult.”

There is better news on Dennis Cirkin, with the defender having been able to return to full training this week after recovering from the hamstring injury sustained in the Tees-Wear derby defeat at Sunderland.

Cirkin will return to the squad on Saturday, although Mowbray must decide whether to restore the 20-year-old to the starting line-up or stick with Aji Alese, who impressed in the away games at Reading and Watford.

“Dennis trained the other day,” said Mowbray. “It’s positive. I keep saying to the staff, ‘Wait until Dennis gets back, wait until Ross gets back, wait until Dan Ballard gets back’. There’s going to be some real competition for places then.”