Sunderland return to Premier League action on Saturday when they host Brighton at the Stadium of Light

Régis Le Bris is hopeful that Brian Brobbey will be back to face Brighton this weekend after resuming full training last Friday.

Le Bris is also hopeful that Dennis Cirkin will be available to take his place in the matchday squad, having also resumed full training after a minor hamstring injury. The Sunderland head coach confirmed that Nordi Mukiele, Robin Roefs and Reinildo remain absent but that they remain on track to feature against Newcastle United a week later. Le Bris is very confident on Reinildo’s fitness for that game, and hopeful on Roefs and Mukiele.

“Brian and Dennis have trained fully this week,” Le Bris said.

“They might be available. Nordi, Robin and Rei are in a good place but won’t be available for this fixture. Probably they will train next week, Rei 100%, so it’s more about the Newcastle game for them. They are progressing well.”

Le Bris will also be bolstered by the return of two key players in Trai Hume and Noah Sadiki, who served competition-specific suspensions in the Port Vale defeat.

Bertrand Traoré is facing an extended spell on the sidelines, however, after suffering a recurrence of his knee injury.

“It’s going to be six to eight weeks minimum,” Le Bris said.

“We’ll try to conservative reaction then depending on the reaction we’ll see if we need something else.”

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Le Bris: Granit Xhaka ready for greater Sunderland involvement

The Sunderland head coach also said that Granit Xhaka was now close to full fitness, having been used from the bench in the club’s last two league fixtures.

“Yes, I think so [he’s close to full fitness],” Le Bris said.

“We're in a good place now. We didn't rush the process, because we know that Granit, in our squad, can change the dynamic, the standards. In this position, we don't have the same profile if we need someone else.It was key to take our time and to let him recover properly, and now I think it's done.”

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