Carl Winchester training boost ahead of Sunderland's League One play-off final against Wycombe

The 29-year-old had been a regular starter under Alex Neil but was forced off with a groin injury during last month’s 5-1 win over Cambridge at the Stadium of Light.

Winchester missed the subsequent league games against Rotherham and Morecambe, as well as both legs of Sunderland’s play-off semi-final against Sheffield Wednesday.

Yet it appears the Northern Irishman has been training with the rest of the Black Cats squad at the Academy of Light.

Nathan Broadhead is available again after missing the first leg against Wednesday, while Leon Dajaku has also returned to training after being sidelined with an illness.

When asked about team news ahead of the final against Wycombe, Neil told Sunderland’s website: "I think that we've come through both of those legs relatively unscathed, which is good.

"We've got a couple of bumps and bruises, Bailey Wright got a bit of a split round his eye and I think Goochy (Lynden Gooch) had one on his head as well.

"But there's nothing too significant, so we're hoping that we can get the lads through this week so that they're fine and firing and ready to go.

"We're looking forward to it and so far it's gone well, albeit we're still early in the week."

He added: "We're relaxed, we've set out our stall out early in terms of what we wanted to achieve and we've still got one hurdle left to go.”