George Dobson could receive pre-season opportunity at Sunderland as midfielder returns to training

The former Walsall midfielder spent the second half of the 2020/21 season on loan at AFC Wimbledon after falling down the pecking order under Lee Johnson.

But Dobson caught the eye with a string of fine performances and his statistics ranked highly when compared to other League One midfielders during his loan spell.

It was, however, recently reported that Sunderland could be set to release the player from his contract amid outside interest – with Wimbledon boss Mark Robinson confirming his side would likely be priced-out of a deal.

Dobson has a year remaining on his contract on Wearside and returned to training with the rest of Sunderland’s first-team squad this week.

With Johnson’s squad numbers currently limited as the Black Cats target a transfer breakthrough, the 23-year-old could be handed an opportunity in some of Sunderland’s early pre-season fixtures.

The Wearsiders head to Spennymoor Town on Saturday and are likely to involve a number of youngsters in their ranks given the lack of senior bodies currently in the building.

Ellis Taylor, Dan Neil and Josh Hawkes have all trained with the first-team squad upon their return to training and could be involved at The Brewery Field.

And so too could Will Grigg, who was also expected to return to training on Monday after his loan spell at MK Dons.

A permanent exit for the striker is not yet off the cards, though.

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