Tony Mowbray drops Ross Stewart, Dan Ballard and Edouard Michut Sunderland selection hints

Danny Batth's injury meant that Ballard completed most of the 1-1 draw with Hull City last weekend, much longer than initially planned.

Stewart meanwhile made an instant impact, scoring a superb goal even after his side were reduced to ten men due to Elliot Embleton's red card midway through the second half.

“I think they’re ready to play for longer,” Mowbray said of Embleton and Ballard.

“I talk to those boys about how they’re feeling and where they’re at, and I think the opportunity is there now where we could play them both for 90 minutes.

“Whether we can play them both for three games in a week in a really tight schedule is another question, but we’ll assess that after every game.

“I think the squad are in a good place. They’re really sharp and bright, and the message is that they want to keep improving. I just think it’s good to have good players back out there on the pitch.”

With Embleton injured and Alex Pritchard not fit for the game against Blackburn Rovers on Boxing Day, Edouard Michut could be set to return to the matchday squad.

The PSG loanee travelled with the squad to Hull last week after completing his injury rehabilitation and those injuries may well present him with an opportunity.

The Sunderland head coach has been impressed with him in training and wants to try and get him game time over the festive period.

"There've been little injuries along the way, Michut had been injured for around a month or so," Mowbray said.

"He's trained for the last couple of weeks and he's looking really talented in those sessions. You're talking about a kid who has trained with Mbappe, Messi and Neymar - played six games for PSG, and you can see it [the quality].

"He's got immense talent but he's picked up knocks and niggles. We want to get him more game time."