Alex Neil is planning to assess Thorben Hoffmann today before deciding whether he is ready to be involved against MK Dons tomorrow.
On-loan Bayern Munich goalkeeper Hoffmann has missed Sunderland's last two games against Cheltenham and AFC Wimbledon due to illness and he returned to his native Germany to undergo blood tests.
But the tests have come back clear and he returned to Wearside this week and has taken part in training at the Academy of Light.
READ MORE: Alex Neil confirms Sunderland's injured trio still weeks away from returning
Neil must now decide whether the 22-year-old is ready to go straight into the team tomorrow, or stick with Anthony Patterson in order to give Hoffmann more time to get back up to speed.
"Thorben is fine," said Neil this morning.
"He went to Germany to have the tests done, and they came back good.
"He's been back in the building for a couple of days and he has joined in training.
"He's in fine fettle.
"Thorben has had a few sessions this week but he had had about ten days where he wasn't active when he was travelling to and from Germany, so we'll assess him today."
Hoffmann contracted Covid at the beginning of January before returning in the middle of the month.
Backup keeper Lee Burge also contracted Covid at the same time and he has since suffered from inflammation of the heart, although it is not clear whether that was caused by the virus itself or a reaction to the Covid vaccine.
Previous head coach Lee Johnson said that Burge would need to rest and keep his heart rate below 100 beats per minute for an extended period until he recovers.
And Neil said that Burge was due to report to the Academy of Light today for a checkup with the club's medical department, but he is still some way off a return.
"Lee is due in today," he said.
"We've been monitoring him and he is due in today so that the physios can have a look at him and make sure he is OK.
"Obviously, he has had that inflammmation that everybody is aware of and he has just been resting up and we've been monitoring him."
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