Etuhu this week had surgery to address ligament damage he sustained during the African Nations Cup and is out for the rest of the season.
Dwight Yorke has failed to shake off his own knee problem and is unlikely to figure at St James' Park.
Sunderland (from): Gordon, Fulop, Bardsley, Collins, McShane, Nosworthy, Evans, Higginbotham, Harte, Whitehead, Reid, Leadbitter, Edwards, Miller, Richardson, O'Donovan, Jones, Waghorn, Murphy, Stokes, Chopra, Prica.