Sunderland have seen a key player return to full training this week

Tommy Watson has returned to training at Sunderland as planned this week, handing Régis Le Bris a timely boost following a double injury setback in the defeat to Hull City.

Watson has been pictured in training ahead of the trip to Hillsborough to face Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday night, where he could return to the matchday squad. After Romaine Mundle made his comeback in the second half of the defeat to Hull, Le Bris now has two natural left wingers available for the promotion run-in.

Neither Enzo Le Fée nor Dan Ballard were pictured in training, with the Black Cats braced to be without the pair for a period of time after they were forced off in the loss to Hull. Le Bris will give an update on the pair at his pre-match press conference on Thursday but the early indications are that both are facing a spell on the sidelines.

Ballard's injury could lead to Jenson Seelt returning to the matchday squad on Friday night, with the 21-year-old training with his team-mates this week as he nears a return from a long spell on the sidelines with a knee injury. Youngsters Oli Bainbridge and Harrison Jones were also amongst the training group.

What Kristjaan Speakman has previously said about Tommy Watson’s return to Sunderland action

Watson has not played due to injury since Brighton and Hove Albion revived their long-standing interest in the winger at the end of the January window, with the two clubs ultimately failing to reach an agreement on deadline day.

Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman held talks with Watson in the days that followed and Sunderland are confident that he is ready to play his part in the push for promotion.

"Tommy is like a number of young players that we’ve got, where they’re on the up, they’re highly-rated and ambitious, which we want them to be, and then they get presented with an opportunity," Speakman said early in February.

"Ultimately, Tommy didn’t have a decision to make because there wasn’t an agreement between the clubs. If the clubs had agreed, he would have had a decision to make, and you could understand why he would choose to stay, but you could also understand why he might decide to leave. That would be based on his views. But we never got to that point, so it was never really an issue. I think Tommy is such a level-headed kid that it’s absolutely not a problem. He’s Sunderland through and through, but he’s also ambitious and wants to get promoted and play in the Premier League with Sunderland. I’ve spoken to him this morning and he’s the usual Tommy Watson – he wants to get back fit and wants to get back to the Stadium of Light, scoring goals.

“I’ve got no reservations on Tommy’s focus on Sunderland at all. Part of that is down to the character of the kid, and how he’s been brought up. Maybe if you had a different player, with a different personality profile, it would be different. But you’ve got to remember that players like Tommy have been here for longer than I’ve been here. They’re extremely well connected to what’s going on."

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