Forgotten Sunderland man ramps up his recovery with 72-minute outing for Under-21s, first-team chance surely next

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Given the recent spate of injuries at Sunderland, Regis Le Bris will likely be delighted to see one player heading back to full fitness this week.

Admittedly, other teams have had it far worse than Sunderland when it comes to injuries this season. But, the Black Cats have gone large chunks of the campaign without seeing some of their key men.

The likes of Romaine Mundle, Tommy Watson, Alan Browne, and Ian Poveda have all missed months at a time, leaving Regis Le Bris with a fairly small squad.

Now, as those names return, Sunderland were hit by a triple injury blow to Enzo Le Fee, Dan Ballard, and Jayden Danns. But, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

• READ MORE: Former Sunderland man questions Regis Le Bris’ man management as he suggests Enzo Le Fee injury was inevitable

Jenson Seelt is firmly on the road to recovery

Le Bris has never even been able to call upon Jenson Seelt yet, with the Dutch defender having been out injured since undergoing knee surgery back in March of last year.

Now, a year later, the 21-year-old is ramping up his progress as he hits the comeback trail, and he just made a big breakthrough playing for Sunderland’s development squad.

Seelt played a full 90 minutes for the Under-21 side against Wolves a month ago, and just completed another 72 minutes in the 2-1 defeat to West Brom’s youth team on Monday afternoon.

It’s another huge step for the centre-half, who has admitted his setbacks have been ‘frustrating’ and opened up about how eager he is to show what he can do.

• READ MORE: Sunderland fans ‘shocked’ by Jack Clarke’s big Ipswich Town decision, it looks like he’s hit a new low

Regis Le Bris will need Jenson Seelt in the coming weeks

Now, it can’t be long until Le Bris gives Seelt the nod to step into the first-team squad. The Sunderland manager has a big gap to fill in the absence of Dan Ballard, and Seelt is the perfect man to solve that problem.

There is plenty of promise around Seelt, who has already shown in glimpses what he can bring to the Black Cats squad. He’s athletic, strong, and comfortable on the ball, which should allow him to be integrated into Le Bris’ system fairly easily.

We shouldn’t expect Seelt to be part of the squad for the upcoming fixture against Cardiff at the weekend, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see him make the bench for the meeting with Coventry later in the month.

It will be a slow and steady process to get Seelt back on the pitch, of course, but Chris Mepham and Luke O’Nien will surely need a rest as the run-in intensifies this season.