Sunderland are set to be handed a welcome injury boost ahead of their clash with Wigan Athletic on Tuesday evening, with Bailey Wright set to return to action. 

Wright has been out of action since February, after picking up a calf injury that has kept him sidelined. The defender has impressed in the early stages of his spell with the Black Cats, and has made 30 appearances in all competitions for Sunderland this term.

Sunderland are well-placed to win promotion into the Championship this term, with Lee Johnson's side sat third in the League One table, with seven matches remaining in their season.

The Black Cats were beaten by Charlton Athletic in their most recent match, with the makeshift defensive pairing of Luke O'Nien and Dion Sanderson lining up in the heart of the defence for them.

Speaking in a recent interview (quotes sourced from Chronicle Live), Johnson issued a positive injury update on Wright, and revealed that he's back in training ahead of the promotion run-in.

"Bailey has been back in training today, which is nice to see. We sat down with Bailey three or four days ago to go through a series of alternative plans.

"The good thing is that the injury has healed, that's the most important thing because you don't want to put a player out with a muscle injury when he could potentially not get through a game."

"Obviously he has lost a lot of training time, a lot of match time, but for a centre-half maybe you don't need quite so many minutes in the tank as you would if you were a forward or a central midfielder, and of course he is an experienced player.

"He's trained a bit with the U23s because of the schedule, when we have been off and they have been training, but he was back with us today.

"The aim is probably to have a look at giving him some minutes for the U23s on Monday, but again that will depend on our need ahead of the Tuesday game at Wigan.

Sunderland are set to return to action on Tuesday, when they take on Wigan Athletic, in a game they'll be expecting to pick up three points from.

The Verdict: 

His return has come at the ideal time.

I've been really impressed with Wright since he signed for Sunderland, and he's certainly added something to their team in recent months.

To lose him in February would have been a frustrating injury blow, but he's set to return ahead of a crucial seven matches, as Sunderland battle to win promotion back into the Championship this term.

With Wright back in contention after a spell in the treatment room, I can see Sunderland returning to the second-tier under Lee Johnson's management this season.