Sunderland striker Connor Wickham is out this weekend with an ankle injury.

Martin O'Neill was prepared to give Wickham his first Barclays Premier League start since December at Aston Villa today, but Wickham has suffered another injury setback earlier in the week.

The Sunderland boss said: 'He went over on his ankle and he is out. He was one of the younger players I was thinking about for starting games and we were seeing how he developed in the week.