Régis Le Bris issues major Sunderland injury update and names the player who could return against Norwich City

Ian Poveda could return to the Sunderland squad this week after Régis Le Bris said the winger is in a ‘really good place’.

Poveda has been absent since October with a muscle problem, and has so far been limited to just three substitute appearances since his summer move to Wearside. However, he has been back in full training for over a week now and while Le Bris has ruled out the 24-year-old starting any games in the immediate future, the head coach is ready to use him as an impact substitute over the festive period.

“Ian has trained now for one week, a bit more, so he's really in good shape,” Le Bris said.

“Sometimes you just need time to find the connection with the project and club. Ian is now in a really good place. He's not ready to play a full game but can be a sub and help us in short spells in games.”

There was a further boost in training this week as Jenson Seelt joined his team mates for the first time since suffering a major knee ligament injury in Match. Seelt is for now only taking part in the non-contact phases of sessions and isn’t expected to return to competitive senior action until next month, but this is another sign that his comeback is on track.

“For Jenson, it was [an] important surgery,” Le Bris said.

“It's different to Salis for example because that was a muscle injury and when you're recovered you're recovered. But with Jenson the whole structure was damaged so we need to be careful. This week was non-contact, then he'll have contact with the U21s and they'll play a short period in a [U21s] game and then after, be available with us.”

Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi are also closer to joining training, though neither are likely to play until the end of the month at the earliest.

“We hope he's very close to returning to training,” Le Bris said.

“He's in a good place now and should be back at the end of December. Salis is in good shape but we'll need to find the right moment to play. Ahmed should be back training next week, but only in part of the sessions to begin with.”