Sunderland handed Aji Alese fitness boost ahead of Millwall | OneFootball

The Black Cats's squad is still looking a bit stretched ahead of the trip to the capital.

Aji Alese is back in training is what is a big fitness boost for Sunderland ahead of their match against Millwall.

As we step closer to the depths of winter, there is more and more need for a fit and healthy squad; something that Sunderland don't fully have.

On top of some long-term injury and general fitness issues that are preventing many of Regis Le Bris' players from being available for selection, there have been some other more recent problems that have popped up, giving the Black Cats and their supporters about what their team will look like after the international break.

But they will be happy with the latest news coming out of Wearside, which showed one of Alese to be making good progress on his road to recovery after an ankle injury in August.

Aji Alese back in Sunderland training

The former West Ham United defender has been pictured for the first time with the rest of his teammates in training since the end of the first month of the season.

Le Bris said after Sunderland's last game - a 2-2 draw against Coventry City - that it was likely that Alese would be fit at the end of the current international break. However, the chances are that he won't be rushed back into the mix, despite their lack of availability in certain defensive positions, because of how long he has been out for.

Sunderland are also expecting returns at the back for centre-half Dan Ballard and goalkeeper Anthony Patterson. Their returns alone, unfortunately, aren't going to be able to cover over the cracks that were left from that Coventry game.

Facing the Sky Blues led to injuries for Alan Browne and Romaine Mundle, plus one-game suspensions for Trai Hume and Patrick Roberts. The extra defensive cover brought by the returning Alese and Ballard will help, but Le Bris doesn't have a natural right-back that is ready to replace Hume.

Browne and Mundle are both expected to miss the Millwall match because of their injuries, according to the Sunderland Echo.

Any hopes among supporters of a quick return for the winger would have been damaged when they saw Mundle's Instagram story from today (Thursday, 14th November) which showed the sunny skies of somewhere that was obviously not Sunderland or anywhere else in the UK.

Aji Alese will provide a slight boost for Sunderland

The main goal over this international break for Le Bris and his team would be to figure out how they are going to get back to winning ways. It won't be easy with the run of games they have coming up - Millwall (A), West Bromwich Albion (H) and Sheffield United (A) - but results will be needed if they are to hold on to top spot in the division.

But what this two-week break has also done is given Sunderland a bit more time to get the likes of Alese, Ballard, and Patterson back.

The ex-West Ham man is only likely to feature on the bench against the Lions, and the middle of defence is not where they desperately need players back at the moment, but, ahead of a busy schedule, having someone of his quality back and being able to ease him in over the international break will be a boost for Sunderland.