Ethan Robson is set to rejoin training next week after recovering from the thigh injury that has sidelined him for a fortnight.
Robson returned to Wearside in January after spending the first half of the season on loan at League Two Grimsby Town, with Phil Parkinson keen to ensure Sunderland were not left short of cover in central midfield after letting Dylan McGeouch join Aberdeen.
But the form of regular starters George Dobson and Max Power , and the addition of Josh Scowen to strengthen the squad towards the end of the transfer window, has meant that Robson has not even made the bench since he came back from Blundell Park.
And Parkinson has revealed that academy graduate Robson has also been suffering from an injury in recent weeks.
The problem meant the 23-year-old missed Wednesday's behind-closed-doors friendly against Carlisle United when other squad members who have been out of the starting XI such as Scowen, Kyle Lafferty , Declan John , Tommy Smith, Antoine Semenyo , Will Grigg , and Joel Lynch , were all given an hour-long run-out.
But Robson is due to resume training on Monday.
"Ethan has has a thigh strain over the last couple of weeks so he has not been available," said Parkinson.
"He will be back in training on Monday, but of course the injury meant he missed the friendly against Carlisle United on Wednesday which was a shame.
"Ethan has missed about two weeks of training, so he needs to get back up to speed again."
Parkinson used the midweek game against Carlisle at the Academy of Light - which the Black Cats won 5-2 - to give a number of players gametime, keeping them sharp in case they are needed in the run-in.
He said: "When you put on friendlies like that, they have to be played at the right intensity level or it is pointless arranging them.
"And when we looked at the physical data, all the first-teamers who played 60 minutes had a real go."
