Sunderland boss Mel Reay gives an injury and fitness update ahead of Championship opener at Durham

That means Abby Holmes, Nicki Gears and Danielle Brown could all make their debuts against their former team.

Sunderland have won all four of their pre-season friendlies as they gear up to build on last season's ninth-placed finish, but the injuries to Ramshaw and Herron were the one key disappointment.

Reay is hopeful that captain Ramshaw will be available soon, but Herron is facing a longer absence after making an outstanding start to her second-tier career last season.

Emma Kelly, who was withdrawn as an injury precaution last weekend, looks set to be available.

"Everyone is available for us this weekend bar Keira and Neve," Reay said.

"I'm delighted to get a number of players back, Megan [Beer] was at work last week and Abbey [Joice] was on her honeymoon, but we'll have them both in the squad on Sunday.

"With Keira we've had some good news, it's not as bad as we initially feared, so she'll have her [protective] boot off next week and will resume proper rehab on her ankle. So we'll get her back as quick as we can, but with Neve it's going to be a little bit longer.

"One of the things with managing a part-time squad [in terms of match fitness through pre-season] is that you've got to accept people will have holidays, people might be at work.

"It can get a bit bitty at times as a result, but we've done well through pre-season, we've had four fixtures in which we've been able to try different things going into the season."

Having won both encounters last season, Durham will pose a stern test in front of a sold-out home crowd at Maiden Castle.

They also represent the growing quality and ambition in the Women's Championship, one of the clubs to turn professional over the summer.

Sunderland have targeted experienced second-tier players over the summer and Reay is hopeful that will be vital in building on last season's promising campaign.

"We did excellent last season considering how young a squad we had, the average age was 21 when for the division it's up at 24," Reay said.

"The players that I brought in, I wanted them to add value in terms of leadership and experience, and that's certainly going to help the young ones going forward.

"I'm absolutely delighted with the five additions that we've brought in. Myself, Alex [Clark] and Steph [Libbey] all sat down in January and had a hit list in terms of what we wanted to go after and all five of those were on the list.

"We were delighted with our season last time out, we achieved our in-house objectives so we want to try and go one better.

"We've got to try and squeeze the squad that little bit more, and set that bar that little bit higher."

Sunderland boss Mel Reay discusses pre-season so far, recruitment plans and the Championship season ahead