Sunderland boss gives this upbeat injury update on Everton loanee Nathan Broadhead

Broadhead suffered a serious hamstring injury at Arsenal in the Carabao Cup quarter final in December 2021, but when it was deemed surgery was not required the Black Cats were left hopeful that his lay-off would be around three months, rather than the rest of the season.

Johnson says dialogue with Everton has left him increasingly confident that will be the case.

"He's being doing his rehab at Everton and we're in regular dialogue with them," Johnson said.

"It's just best-case scenario at the moment, and I can't give you a definitive timeframe on that.

"But they are very happy with his progress which is obviously great for us to hear.

"I'm confident he will now play for us again before the end of the season and I'm very, very happy about that."

Johnson also said he hopes that Luke O'Nien and Aiden McGeady are both on track in their recoveries from shoulder and knee problems respectively.

Both have been out on the grass at the Academy of Light this week.

O'Nien was ruled out for three months in late November, while McGeady was ruled out for a similar timeframe around the same time.

"Luke has been out been running," Johnson said.

"If you listen to Luke, who is a very positive character, he's hoping to come back quicker than anyone has ever come back from this injury.

"I wouldn't put it past him, to be honest.

"Fitness wise, you know it's not going to be a problem with Luke, he could have a year out and come back and play 90.

"Any boost like that would be massive for us.

"McGeady has been out with us as well, tentatively joining him in with some parts of the session," Johnson said.

"He's quite a way off in terms of his physical fitness and he's still getting a bit of a pinch in that medial ligament.

"But it's nice to have him out there, keeping him engaged."

Niall Huggins is another long-term absentee who Sunderland expect to feature again this season.

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