Brown out for Black Cats

Sunderland boss Martin O’Neill will be without defender Wes Brown and midfielder David Vaughan for tomorrow’s Barclays Premier League trip to Stoke as the pair face up to weeks on the sidelines.

Brown (knee) will be missing for up to two months, while Vaughan (ankle ligaments) is expected to be out for a lesser, but still significant, period.

Midfielder Lee Cattermole (hamstring) is hoping to return to training a the end of next week, while defenders Matt Kilgallon (ankle) and Titus Bramble (Achilles/foot) are still sidelined, but Sotirios Kyrgiakos is available to join fellow loan signing Wayne Bridge in the squad.

Provisional squad: Mignolet, Westwood, Bardsley, Bridge, O’Shea, Turner, Kyrgiakos, Lynch, Richardson, Gardner, Larsson, Elmohamady, McClean, Meyler, Colback, Sessegnon, Wickham, Ji, Campbell.