Tony Mowbray has confirmed that Aji Alese will return to full training with Sunderland this month.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference (as per Sunderland Echo), the Black Cats boss claimed that the defender was ‘2-3 weeks away’.
Aji Alese arrived on Wearside from West Ham last summer and was a massive hit in his first campaign, playing both the middle and the left side of the backline.
The defender quickly became a key part of Sunderland’s team, but suffered a huge blow when he suffered a thigh injury in March that was due to end his campaign prematurely.
Alese managed to return to the team for the Black Cats’ defeat to Luton Town in their Championship play-off second leg, however an injury setback has kept him out of action ever since.
While Sunderland fans have been eagerly awaiting his comeback, there now appears to be light at the end of the tunnel as Alese looks set to return to training at the end of November.
This means we could see the ‘amazing’ 22-year-old back on the pitch around the Christmas period, with tricky fixtures against the likes of Leeds United, Coventry and Hull City coming up.
Can Aji Alese get back into the Sunderland squad?
Aji Alese has been out of action for a long time now, and while both Niall Huggins and Dennis Cirkin have done a comfortable job at left-back, we have really been lacking squad depth.
Alese seemed to play primarily on the left flank prior to his injury, but we could see him battle for a place in central defence too.
Cirkin is simply too good to drop (once he eventually replaces Huggins), while Luke O’Nien is probably our weakest link in the back-four.
Either way, Alese is too good to not earn himself a place back in the squad. No doubt a busy winter period will allow him to impress once again.