BAILEY WRIGHT faces a race against time to be fit for Sunderland’s Papa John’s Trophy final at Wembley after his calf problem proved more serious than initially feared.

Wright was not involved in today’s 3-0 win over Burton Albion, and Lee Johnson has revealed that the centre-half faces up to three weeks on the sidelines.

Sunderland’s Papa John’s final against Tranmere Rovers is three weeks tomorrow, which means it is touch and go whether Wright will be able to feature at Wembley.

Callum McFadzean will be okay by then, having missed today’s game because of concussion protocols, but Wright’s injury issues are more severe.

Johnson said: “Callum was out because of the concussion protocols, so that was a bit frustrating that one. You’ve got to do the right thing by the player, and the doctors have a lot of power now. Rightly so.

“In terms of Bailey Wright, he’s going to be out for two or three weeks with a small tear to a part of his calf.”

At least today’s game proved that Sunderland can cope without their most influential central defender, as well as fellow centre-halves Jordan Willis and Tom Flanagan.

Johnson switched to a back five at the Pirelli Stadium, fielding Conor McLaughlin, Dion Sanderson and Luke O’Nien as centre-halves, and despite the extensive reshuffling, his side responded with a deserved clean sheet.

Johnson said: “The boys’ attitude has been great. If there had been any dissent in asking players to play in different positions, we wouldn’t have been able to do it.

“I think they’ve enjoyed it. They rolled their sleeves up in a really difficult game, on a difficult pitch, against a side that are fighting for their lives. It was really good work today as a whole.

“Everybody can go home and enjoy their day off tomorrow, but come Monday we’ll be back to it because we’ve got a big game on Tuesday.”

Sunderland claimed the lead through first-half goals from Grant Leadbitter and Lynden Gooch, and after Burton were reduced to ten men by the dismissal of Josh Earl, Charlie Wyke added a third goal with 14 minutes left.

Johnson said: “I was worried about this one, to be honest. They're in good form and we had to change the shape. On the ball, it's a great shape and I thought we caused them problems throughout the first half with our footballing ability and the interplay we had between the front players.

“Lynden is a pocket dynamo and with Aiden O'Brien making those sort of out to in runs, Goochy was the perfect player for the role.

“Both him and Luke O'Nien have been absolutely fantastic because we've had to use them in three or four positions.

“I'm very happy with those two but I'm very happy with everyone, it was a very professional performance.”