Sunderland's Arca a doubt for derby

Sunderland midfielder Julio Arca is a major doubt for Sunday’s Barclays Premiership trip to derby rivals Newcastle.

The Argentinian rates himself as 50-50 with the toe injury which has kept him out of his side’s last two games, but manager Mick McCarthy is less hopeful and has insisted he will not risk losing one of his most influential players for a longer period if he is not 100% fit.

Christian Bassila will definitely miss out with a hamstring problem, while Stephen Wright, George McCartney, Colin Healy and Kevin Kyle remain on the long-term casualty list.

Provisional squad: Davis, J Murphy, Nosworthy, Hoyte, D Collins, Breen, Stubbs, Caldwell, Miller, Whitehead, Welsh, Lawrence, Robinson, Le Tallec, Elliott, Gray, Stead, D Murphy.