Tony Mowbray is relaxed about Dennis Cirkin's upcoming suspension - insisting the defender would likely have been rested for Tuesday's home game against Huddersfield Town in any case.
Cirkin was sent off for a second bookable offence with a little over ten minutes remaining of Sunderland's 2-1 win against Birmingham City at the Stadium of Light, leaving his teammates to hang on in the closing stages against the Blues.
But they saw the game out to move up to ninth place in the table and stay in the play-off race. Cirkin's red card means he will now serve a one-match ban that will rule him out of the game against the Terriers on Tuesday.
However Mowbray pointed out that Cirkin has only recently returned to fitness after recovering from the after-effects of concussion he originally suffered in early February, and he would have probably been rested against Huddersfield to reduce the risk of him picking up a fresh injury after so long out. And it means Luke O'Nien is set to return to the starting XI on Tuesday night to take his place.
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"I haven't discussed it with Dennis, to be honest, and I haven't looked back at it," said Mowbray of the red card. "It's fine, though.
"If anything, he'd have been left out on Tuesday anyway because he had been out a long, long time, and playing back-to-back games [against Cardiff City on Easter Monday when he scored the winning goal, and then against Birmingham] in such a short period and then another one [if he had played against Huddersfield], he'd have been under threat of injury. So for him to sit out and watch the game knowing he is not going to play is not such a bad thing for Dennis Cirkin.
"We do have [Luke] O'Nien who is an amazing footballer and an amazing personality. We will find an answer to the conundrum of what the team is going to look like on Tuesday night."
Sunderland came from behind to beat Birmingham, who had taken the lead through George Hall's goal on the half-hour. Trai Hume levelled in first-half stoppage time before Amad completed the turnaround 15 minutes from time, with Cirkin dismissed a couple of minutes later.
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