Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has revealed that winger Emanuele Giaccherini could make his return from injury against Newcastle United in the Tyne-Wear derby.
The Italy international has been out of action since October, but has made significant strides in his recovery in recent weeks to make himself available for the showdown against his side's local rivals.
Meanwhile, the game comes too soon for Billy Jones to make his comeback, and Patrick van Aanholt is also still sidelined, but Poyet is optimistic that he could return earlier than expected.
Poyet told the club's official website: "Giaccherini is possible for this weekend, but with Billy it's going to take another week.
"Patrick's doing better than expected and he's a fit lad, so it's just a matter of when he starts doing certain things and how he's going to deal with when he starts having contact in training.
"It's important that we get a few players back because you need to be fresh and you need to be ready to compete, but it's not easy because you can't change 11 players and there are some who won't be able to play two games in three days."
Sunderland are 15th in the Premier League heading into the match against Newcastle on Sunday.
Simon Sinclair
