Two of Sunderland’s long-term injury absentees are making excellent progress behind the scenes at the Academy of Light

Ahmed Abdullahi is back in full training with his Sunderland team mates ahead of the play-off semi final against Coventry City.

Abdullahi is not expected to feature across the two legs against the Sky Blues but the development offers a boost to the club's long-term plans. The Nigerian striker signed from Gent on deadline day last summer, but the club quickly decided that he needed surgery to fully correct a pre-existing groin injury. That led to a spell on the sidelines and though Abdullahi returned to produce some eye-catching performances in the U21s side, he continued to experience some pain as a result of the surgery.

"Ahmed struggled with this injury,” Le Bris said in March.

"The injury is solved now but there have been some ups and downs with the pain. The surgery was fine, successful, but sometimes there was a reaction to the load of the training sessions. So he just he needs time. He is not yet ready to train with us, he just needs time. I would like a third striker for sure, but we will wait."

The news suggests that Abdullahi will be on track to play a full part in pre-season, which will be key to his hopes of forcing his way into the Sunderland side for 2025/26. Niall Huggins also continues to train fully with his Sunderland team mates as he steps up his comeback from a major knee injury that left him on the sidelines for over a year. Head coach Régis Le Bris has not ruled out the possibility of Huggins being named on the bench at some stage over the course of the play-off campaign and like Abdullahi, his progress bolsters his hopes of forcing his way into contention next season.

There was no sign of Ian Poveda training with his team-mates in the behind-the-scenes footage. Le Bris has previously said that the winger could play a part in the play-offs but if he is not yet back in full training then that would appear to be increasingly unlikely.

Régis Le Bris's pre-Coventry City Sunderland injury update

Romaine Mundle and Aji Alese have both been in full training ahead of the clash with Coventry City, though both are more likely to return to the squad for the second leg on Tuesday night.

“I don’t know exactly who will be available but I don’t think we will quite have a full squad,” Le Bris said.

“I think it will be a little bit soon for Romaine and also for Aji to be involved in the first leg. Most of the squad will be available. Romaine and Aji can hopefully be involved on Tuesday night.

“We know that if we have different options to face different challenges, hopefully across three games, we will need everyone. These players are proud of what they have done so far and they have done it as a team and a squad. We have been a unit with different starting XIs, different subs. We have done everything as a group. Some players may be disappointed for the first leg, maybe, but after that they will switch on really quickly.”

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