Sunderland have received a welcome injury boost ahead of the promotion run-in, with Denver Hume recently returning to full training. 

Hume has been out of action since he was forced off in the first-half of Sunderland's defeat to Wigan Athletic back in December 2020.

The Black Cats have shown much-needed improvement since the turn of the New Year though, with Lee Johnson's side now sat third in the League One table, and just two points adrift of the automatic promotion places, with 11 matches remaining in this year's league campaign.

Speaking in a recent interview with Sunderland's official website, Hume revealed that he is back in full training, after his injury was less serious than originally feared, which will be pleasing to hear for the Stadium of Light faithful.

"It’s not been an ideal situation for me at all, but I’m back out training fully now.

"When I first got the injury, the physios thought it was going to be a little less serious than it turned out.

Hume went on to admit that he's keen not to rush any stage of his rehabilitation, as he looks to feature for Sunderland in the coming months as they push for promotion into the Championship this season.

"I’ve been doing plenty more rehabilitation work in the gym, and not rushing anything, so that I’m back to full fitness sooner rather than later.

"The season from a personal perspective was going well for me, I felt. I played a lot of games at the start, and I thought I was doing well. You get into the swing of the routine, playing Saturday-Tuesday, and my momentum was carrying on from playing a large number of games last season."

Sunderland are set to return to action this weekend, when they take on Bristol Rovers on Saturday, as they look to pick up another win to keep the pressure on their promotion-chasing rivals this term.

 

 

The Verdict: 

He'll be keen to make up for lost time.

Hume's return has come at the ideal time for Sunderland, as they now have a bit more depth in their defensive options ahead of a crucial run of fixtures.

Hume has impressed me when he's been involved for the Black Cats in recent years, and I can see him having an important role to play in their bid for promotion into the Championship this term.

The club won't rush him back into competitive action though, as they won't want to risk him suffering a setback of his injury.