Wes Brown had his first outing of the season during the Sunderland development squad's match against their Blackpool counterparts earlier today.
The 33-year-old has spent the entire campaign on the sidelines with a knee injury that he sustained during pre-season.
However, he gave an indication that he could feature for the Black Cats in the Premier League before May by completing 90 minutes for the second-string team during their 2-1 victory.
Brown joined Sunderland from Manchester United in 2011 but a number of different injuries have limited him to just 21 appearances.