Phil Bardsley is on stand-by to slot in to the Sunderland defence at former club Manchester United this weekend, with manager Steve Bruce admitting the full-back is likely to be back for the long term.

Bardsley was the Black Cats' player of the year last season and started this campaign at left-back, only to lose his place due to an extended suspension dished out to him by the Football Association.

But with right-back John O'Shea facing up to missing out on both a return to Old Trafford on Saturday and the Republic of Ireland's Euro 2012 play-off with Estonia, Bardsley is in the frame to be recalled.

"That is the beauty of Phil, his versatility," said Bruce. "He won player of the year at left-back here, which was terrific for him and he's got that versatility which does help us and him.

"But going into last weekend's game against Aston Villa we had the equal third-best defensive record in the division, which is good. It was something we needed to address and we have addressed it. Phil has been a part of that."

After serving a one-match suspension for his red card in the defeat to Newcastle on August 20, Bardsley was then hit with a four-match retrospective ban after video footage showed him stamping on Chelsea's Juan Mata on September 10.

The absence allowed O'Shea and Kieran Richardson to slot in to the full-back roles in the Sunderland defence and they had improved in recent weeks, coinciding with a two-game unbeaten run after the encouraging display at Arsenal.

But Bruce said: "Bardsley was our player of the year (in 2010-11), he did very well for us. But Kieran Richardson played very well against Walcott (in Sunderland's 2-1 defeat at Arsenal) and did everything I asked of him.

"Kieran also did very well against (Bolton Wanderers' Chris) Eagles as well (the following week). But make no mistake, Phil Bardsley will get his chance and when he takes it, will be hard to displace."

O'Shea is likely to find out the true extent of the damage to the hamstring problem which forced him off in the first half of Saturday's 2-2 draw with Villa in the next 48 hours.

But Bruce has already indicated that an appearance at Manchester United on Saturday is unlikely, while he is also having to consider his goalkeeper options.

Belgian Simon Mignolet underwent surgery on his fractured nose yesterday and Republic of Ireland international Keiren Westwood is preparing for his full Premier League debut.

With Craig Gordon and Trevor Carson also sidelined with injuries, Bruce is looking at putting young reserve keeper Ben Wilson on the bench at Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, the Sunderland boss has been satisfied with the progress made by his strikers in recent weeks, with Connor Wickham particularly showing he can handle life in the Premier League.

Bruce will spend the next few days contemplating whether or not to leave him out at Old Trafford in favour of adopting a lone striker approach against one of the division's best teams.

But Wickham, 18, has spoken of his belief that he can handle the biggest stage by proclaiming his first Premier League goal - that came against Villa - will be the first of many.

Wickham said: "I'm delighted and I just want to score more now. Stephane Sessegnon put the ball through and I knew I had to get the ball out of my feet and hit it as soon as I could.

"As soon as the ball left my foot I knew it was in. I could see the path of the ball and I didn't know what to do when it hit the back of the net."