Phil Parkinson has hinted that Kyle Lafferty or Will Grigg could be involved against Ipswich Town on Saturday.

Sunderland return to action for the first time since their 2-0 defeat to Portsmouth last weekend with the hope of getting back to winning ways at the Stadium Of Light.

As well as dropping points, the shoulder injury picked up by Charlie Wyke could be playing on Parkinson's mind ahead of the clash with the Tractor Boys, but according to the boss, their may be other options in contention to start.

As quoted by the Sunderland Echo, Parkinson said: “Kyle played 45 minutes at Portsmouth and had another 45-minute practice game on Tuesday as well.
“Griggy played in that as well, scored a goal and did well.
“Charlie’s injury has got better as the week has gone.
“We were concerned earlier in the week and it was a heavy fall, but he has got better as the week has gone on.
“We’ve got other options and we’ll weigh those up.” Phil Parkinson has also hinted that Josh Scowen could be involved, but suggested that the clash with Ipswich Town would likely come too soon for Antoine Semenyo and Declan John.
He said: "Josh has obviously been in and around the QPR team so it was just a case of getting him integrated.
“He obviously came in prior to the Tranmere game and then we’ve travelled down to Portsmouth, so he had very little training time.
“This is the first week really he’s had to train with us.
“Antoine and Declan need a bit of work, but obviously they’ve been in and around the first team and training [at their parent clubs].
“When you get caught in that substitute role, you do fall a little bit behind on match fitness but most signings in January have that.” The verdict This could be the perfect opportunity to give Kyle Lafferty or Will Grigg a start. The injury to Charlie Wyke is far from ideal, but given the fact that he's unlikely to be fully fit it could ideal for Phil Parkinson to give the others a run out. Defeat against Portsmouth was a real blow, and perhaps changing things up wouldn't be the worst idea in the world anyway. Wholesale changes would be unneccsary, but introducing some fresh faces could be handy.