JACK ROSS hopes to have George Honeyman and Luke O’Nien back available for Sunderland’s weekend trip to Bradford City.

Lee Cattermole will definitely be making the trip to Valley Parade as he has completed the suspension that kept him out of Tuesday’s 2-2 draw with Peterborough United.

Bryan Oviedo must complete a suspension of his own following his midweek dismissal, but Ross is hoping both Honeyman and O’Nien will return to the squad.

The Sunderland boss said: “Lee’s suspension is over, and George should come back into contention too. He will be fine in terms of the completion of his recovery from his concussion.

“Luke O’Nien is still ill, but he’s probably the other one that will be closest (for Saturday’s game). He came in this morning, but he wasn’t right so we had to send him home. But hopefully he’ll have recovered enough to take part in training tomorrow. Apart from that, we’ll be as we were, obviously with the loss of Bryan.”

Oviedo’s dismissal meant Sunderland had to play for more than 20 minutes with just ten men on Tuesday, so with that in mind, Ross was satisfied with his side’s efforts despite their failure to claim all three points.

With a large Stadium of Light crowd creating a passionate atmosphere, it felt like a much bigger occasion than a midweek game in League One, and Ross admits he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

He said: “As a night, I think most people enjoyed it. It’s very rare as a manager that you ever fully enjoy games, but Tuesday night was one of those occasions when I really enjoyed it.

“I was obviously frustrated we didn’t win the game, but there were lot of good things I could take from our performance. It was a really good night, and the positives certainly outweighed the negatives.”

Saturday’s game pits Sunderland against a Bradford side that have already changed their manager this season, and who ended a dreadful recent run as they won at AFC Wimbledon on Tuesday night.

Ross said: “We’ll have another big away following down at Valley Parade, and with that, you always get a real intensity because of the circumstances. That will be the case at Bradford.

“They had a good result in the week, away from home, and they’re probably still getting used to the new manager.

“I feel like we’re getting better. Tuesday night was another sign of that, and it’s important we continue to improve as a team.

“The players are a in a good place, and they feel like they’re on the cusp of putting together a really good run of results.”