RELAXED Tony Mowbray is "fine" with Dennis Cirkin having to serve a suspension after his red card against Birmingham - revealing he wouldn't have played the defender against Huddersfield anyway.

Cirkin was given his marching orders late on against Birmingham after picking up two yellow cards in the win over the Blues and must now sit out Tuesday night's game against the Terriers.

But having played two games in quick succession after a long lay-off due to the after-effects of concussion, Mowbray said he wouldn't have risked starting Cirkin again in any case. The head coach hinted that Luke O'Nien, who was introduced from the bench late on against Birmingham and helped to see out the victory, will start in place of Cirkin.

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Mowbray said: "I haven't really discussed it with him (Cirkin) or looked at it back but I said to him it's fine, it's professional football. If anything he might have been left out on Tuesday anyway because he'd been out a long, long time then to play back to back games and play another one, he'd be under threat of injury.

"For him to sit out and watch the game knowing he's not going to play isn't such a bad thing for Dennis Cirkin.

"We have O'Nien, who is an amazing footballer and amazing personality, and we will find an answer to the conundrum of what the team will look like on Tuesday night."

Sunderland's players will be back in training on Sunday as attention quickly turns to the visit of Neil Warnock's Terriers.

Mowbray said: "We'll see who is fit and available.

"Dennis is suspended now which throws an issue into the selection scenario, but we're looking forward to Tuesday."