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].
