Sunderland have enjoyed a tremendous return to the Premier League in 2025-26 but have had to negotiate the busy winter schedule without six players.
Regis Le Bris lost more players to the Africa Cup of Nations than any other Premier League manager and the Black Cats have fallen to 10th place thanks to five league games without a win.
Have Sunderlands players returned from AFCON?
With only the final and third-place play-off remaining in the tournament in Morocco, Sunderland have been able to welcome back four of their six AFCON stars.
Noah Sadiki and Arthur Masuaku (Democratic Republic of Congo), Reinildo (Mozambique) and Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso) are all back at the Stadium of Light after representing their countries this month.
The Black Cats have confirmed that two of their players have returned with injuries and will not be available against Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon.
Arthur Masuaku (ankle) and Bertrand Traor (knee) are set for a period on the sidelines, Sunderland confirmed in an update on Thursday.
The duo are back on Wearside, but sustained injuries whilst representing their respective nations at AFCON 2025 in Morocco and they are both expected to be out of action for four to six weeks.
Sadiki has already played for Sunderland since heading back from Morocco, while Reinildo is also fit and available to play at the Stadium of Light in the Premier League on Saturday.
There are two Sunderland players still involved at the Africa Cup of Nations. Finalists Morocco and Senegal each boast one Sunderland player but one of them will unfortunately be forced to watch the showpiece in Rabat from the stands.
20-year-old winger Chemsdine Talbi has only played 16 minutes for Morocco but will be available if called upon for the final on Sunday.
If he does get onto the pitch, he wont find himself in direct competition with teammate Habib Diarra. The young Sunderland midfield is counting the cost of a yellow card against Egypt in the semi-final and the subsequent suspension that rules him out of the final.
Diarra was booked for his involvement in a largely tame melee that followed Mohamad Salahs foul on former Liverpool colleague Sadio Mane, whose goal sent the Teranga Lions into a third final in four AFCON competitions.
Unlike some other major tournaments, previous yellow cards are not wiped in advance of the semi-finals. The consequences for Diarra have been dire but he will be in Rabat rather than Sunderland this weekend nonetheless.
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