Sunderland are increasingly hopeful that Enzo Le Fée will be able to play a significant part in the Championship run-in

Tommy Watson will return to the Sunderland squad for Cardiff City’s visit to the Stadium of Light this weekend, Régis Le Bris has confirmed.

Watson has been sidelined since December 10th after suffering an injury in the 1-1 draw with Bristol City, but has now been back in full training for around a week. While Watson will be reintroduced gradually after a significant period on the sidelines, his return is a major boost to Le Bris’s squad depth.

There was also positive news on AS Roma loanee Enzo Le Fée, who Le Bris says is making good progress in his recovery from injury. The 25-year-old is on track and could yet return to play a full part in Sunderland’s run-in after the upcoming international break.

Sunderland play Millwall on March 29th and even if Le Fée does not make that game, there is now some significant hope that he will be able to play a full part in the April schedule. Dan Ballard is thought to be around a fortnight behind the Frenchman in his recovery from a hamstring problem.

"Tommy should be with us this weekend, yeah,” Le Bris said.

"So far, Enzo and Dan are on track in their recovery. Enzo should probably be available after the international break more or less, with Dan it will be a little bit longer.”

Sunderland will be without Ian Poveda for the foreseeable future, however, after Le Bris confirmed that he had suffered a fresh injury setback.

"We will have to wait for him," Le Bris said.

"I don't know exactly what the timeframe will be for his return to play but it might be three to four weeks. It's frustrating because we know he is talented as a winger, he has the ability to dribble and create something from nothing in short spaces. So far he wasn't available for many reasons."

Ahmed Abdullahi, Jayden Danns, Aji Alese and Niall Huggins all also remain absent due to injury.

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