The England Under 21 midfielder damaged his medial knee ligament in the Black Cats' home win against Liverpool three weeks ago and was expected to be sidelined for three months – ruling him out until the New Year.

But Bruce believes Cattermole could certainly play again in 2009, and might potentially return up to four weeks ahead of schedule.

Considering the original prognosis, Bruce said: "Catts has been out for three weeks already, but after the Spurs game this weekend there is another fortnight before we play Arsenal, and all of a sudden he has been out for getting on towards five or six weeks.

"And Cattermole being Cattermole, I would think he will be back more quickly than the doctors have predicted.

"The kind of person he is, I've just got this gut feeling that he might be out for eight weeks rather than the 12 weeks that was said at the start.

"Of course, ultimately I'll have to be governed by what the medical people say, but knowing Lee's mentality he will be keen to get back as quickly as possible.

"For instance, already he can't wait to get the brace off his knee, and it won't be long now before that does come off."

Stockton-born Cattermole, a £6m buy from Bruce's old club Wigan has been a big success at Sunderland's already.

His energy and determination in the middle of the park helped the Wearsiders picking up 15 points from the eight games he figured in.

They have collected only two points from the three matches he has missed.

Sunderland have six games to play in a packed December and any game that the 21-year-old might feature in will be a bonus for the Black Cats.

Cattermole has developed a strong central midfield partnership with skipper Lorik Cana, but Sunderland will have to do without both for Saturday's trip to Spurs after the skipper picked up his fifth booking of the season in the 2-2 draw with West Ham at the weekend.

The Black Cats will also miss Trinidad & Tobago striker Kenwyne Jones, who starts a three-match ban after being sent off for violent conduct against the Hammers.

But Bruce should be able to call on striker Fraizer Campbell - who spent last season on loan at Spurs - now he is recovering from the hip injury that kept him out against West Ham.

And he is also hoping midfielder Bolo Zenden might shake off a hamstring problem in time to be involved at White Hart Lane though defender John Mensah (calf) is still out of action.

Bruce told the Gazette: "Make no mistake, I wish I was going into the game this weekend with my full team, but that's not the case and this is a chance for other players to come in and show what they can do.

"Fraizer will be back in training either today or tomorrow and is champing at the bit to be involved again.

"I thought he was excellent in our cup game against Aston Villa last week.

"We're also hoping that Bolo will be fit enough to play some part."