The Scottish international is back on Wearside and undergoing intensive rehabilitation from knee surgery in a bid to be fit for the start of the new campaign.

And Sunderland fans can expect to see a battle royale for the keeper's jersey, with both men out to impress new manager Steve Bruce.

Gordon saw last season wrecked by ankle injuries, and went into the summer sidelined by a knee problem which required an operation.

But he has returned to the club early in a bid to step up his recovery process and be challenging again as soon as possible.

The club record signing – a £9m transfer from Hearts two summers ago – was restricted to just 14 appearances last season, and during his absence Fulop proved himself as a Premiership-standard stopper.

Now Gordon wants to come back stronger than ever and as quickly as possible.

The Scottish international said: "After starting last season fairly well, it just fell away. It was just one thing after another for me.

"I have not experienced that before in my career, but hopefully I have got all that out of the way at the same time, and I can concentrate on getting fit and healthy and have a good run at it this season.

"It was a new experience for me, and it was difficult to handle, but these things happen over the course of a player's career.

"It's about bouncing back and handling it, coming back fitter and stronger and ready to go again."

Sunderland are in the enviable position of having two improving young international keepers on their books.

But whether they can keep both men happy is unlikely, given their shared desire for first-team football.

This summer, Hungarian international Fulop has attracted the interest of Greek outfit Panathinaikos, who last month signed former Sunderland striker Djibril Cisse.

Manchester United, meanwhile, have been linked with Gordon.

But both men are set to start the season as Sunderland players, and Gordon wants to be challenging as quickly as possible for his place.

He revealed: "The rehab's not going too badly. I'm slowly but surely getting back into the swing of things, just getting the knee used to the rigours of the training that we can expect over the next few weeks.

"The operation was to clean the knee of debris, smooth the surfaces, making sure that everything was working properly again.

"Now it's a case of building up the muscles around it and getting back into training as soon as possible.

"You don't really want to be doing that when it's meant to be your holidays, and it's next week when the rest of the guys are back.

"While they have been still enjoying their time off, I have been back here, working hard and making sure I will be ready for the new season.

"But that's what you have to do. Nobody wants to be injured at any time, but you have to put the effort in and get yourself back as quickly as possible. Hopefully I will be ready for the start of the season."

Sunderland return to pre-season training next Thursday.