ROMAINE Mundle and Alan Browne will be closely assessed in the coming days as Sunderland wait to discover the severity of the injuries that forced the pair off early against Coventry City.

Immediately after the weekend game, head coach Regis Le Bris was uncertain how long the pair would be sidelined and was instead waiting for the injuries to settle and for medics to monitor the duo.

It's not clear at this stage whether either will be in contention to face Millwall, with Le Bris now having to deal with a growing list of problems for the trip to the capital after the international break.

Both Trai Hume and Patrick Roberts will be unavailable through suspension after being booked against Coventry, but there is more positive news on the injury front with Anthony Patterson expected to be back and Aji Alese also closing in on a return to action.

Alese hasn't played for Sunderland since August, while Patterson has missed the last four games.

Dan Ballard will also get some crucial match minutes under his belt during the international break, with Northern Ireland facing Belarus and Luxembourg.

But Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi will still be sidelined when Championship action resumes after the break.

Both are yet to feature for Sunderland since joining the Black Cats on deadline day.

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Le Bris also anticipates Ian Poveda might need longer than a fortnight to be ready to return. It's been a frustrating start to life on Sunderland for the former Leeds winger, who has been limited to three substitute appearances since his summer arrival.

Updating on the injury situation, Le Bris said at the weekend: "With Romaine and Alan it is too early, we will have to assess them early this week and see.

"I think that Aji will probably be fit at the end of this international break, and of course if Dan Ballard gets some minutes with the international team then that should be good for us.

"Anthony [should be back], we will have to wait with Salis and Ahmed.

"I think with Ian we might have to wait a little bit longer. He had a muscle injury, it wasn't a re-injury but he struggled and I think we have to build some strong foundations with him, so that he can be ready for us to make an impact in the second half of the season."