Elliot Embleton is an injury doubt ahead of Sunderland's weekend trip to MK Dons and will be assessed before Lee Johnson decides whether to involve him.
Embleton suffered a knock in the Black Cats' 2-1 opening day win over Wigan Athletic at the Stadium of Light, leading to his substitution five minutes from time.
He was not part of the squad that travelled to Port Vale for the midweek Carabao Cup win against Port Vale, but Johnson is hoping he will recover in time to play at Stadium MK.
"Elliot had a whack. It was quite a bad one that he took, and he came off - it was a good tackle, though, and I was delighted that he showed that competitive spirit and aggression," said Johnson.
"He's really stepped that up this season, but sometimes that lends itself to contact injuries.
"We'll assess Elliot."
If Embleton is not ready to play at MK, Johnson could hand summer signing Alex Pritchard his first league start for the club.
Carl Winchester also picked up a minor issue against Wigan and sat out the Port Vale trip, but he trained today and Johnson is confident he will be fit to play on Saturday when he will likely be required to operate as a stand-in right-back once more.
He said: "Carl did get a bump on his glute, but he's OK and he trained today."
