TONY MOWBRAY does not expect Corry Evans to be available until the turn of the year as he continues to recover from a serious knee injury.

Evans suffered cruciate ligament damage in January’s home win over Middlesbrough, and while his recovery is making progress, he remains some way away from being able to resume training.

Mowbray said: “Corry is the long-term one, really. I don't expect we will see him until Christmas or sometime around the new year.

“He's had an ACL injury, that's a nine to 12-month problem so we're still looking at a while out for Corry.”

Elliot Embleton has resumed light training, and should be able to join in first-team training sessions in around a fortnight. That could mean he is able to return to competitive action before the end of the month.

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Aji Alese is behind him in terms of his comeback, and has been pencilled in for a possible return in early October.

Mowbray said: “Elliot is on the grass, he's got his boots on and is doing stuff by himself which is telling me he's maybe a couple of weeks away from joining in with us.

“With Aji, I think maybe six to eight weeks. We won't see him in the first couple of months (of the season), I'm pretty sure of that.”

Ross Stewart is Sunderland’s other long-term absentee, and remains on track for a scheduled return at the end of next month.

Mowbray said: “I haven't seen Ross (on the grass) but I know he's had his boots on at times over the summer and he's telling me the end of September, so we're hopefully looking at seven or eight weeks there.”