Aji Alese is making progress in his recovery from the ankle injury that will sideline him until after the World Cup break. Sunderland's summer signing from West Ham suffered the injury in a strong challenge with Blackburn's Jake Garrett at Ewood Park last week, and he limped out of the game as a result.
Defender Alese underwent a scan which revealed that the damage is not as bad as was first feared, but he will still be out of action for between three and four weeks which - given Sunderland's Championship season will pause for three weeks between November 11 and December 3 - means he will effectively be ruled out until the campaign resumes again in December. Alese said: "I was on crutches two days ago and I am down to just the [protective] boot now so it's healing well.
"I can put more weight through it now so as long as I am progressing then who knows. It was a 60-40 or a 50-50 [tackle].
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"He's gone in with quite a lot of force and I've just taken that force on my ankle so it is just one of those ones where on another day, the ball ricochets and goes another way and I don't catch the force on my ankle. That time, I did."
Alese made just a couple of fleeting substitute appearances in the Championship early in the season, and had to wait until mid-September for his first league start for the Black Cats, following that with his first goal for his new club in the 2-2 draw at Watford. Since then he has gone on to become a key component in Tony Mowbray's side, making his injury a major blow.
Alese said: "It was hard at first but I am settled now and I'm enjoying it. It's a bit frustrating being out with injury but I have to work hard and get myself back better than I was before I got injured.
"It's a very good group of guys. We have a mix now of foreign players, younger players and older players so we are all just coming together with the same goal of doing well for the team."
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