JORDAN JONES has a “30 per cent chance” of being involved in Sunderland’s game at Bristol Rovers, but like Bailey Wright and Tom Flanagan, the winger is close to returning to full fitness.

All three injured players have been involved in first-team training this week, and while they are unlikely to be involved at the Memorial Ground, they should all be back in the fold by the middle of next month at the latest.

Sunderland head coach Lee Johnson said: “We’re getting there. Bailey is feeling really good, although he’s not immediately close to a return. Jordan Jones is a lot closer. It’s probably 70-30 against him playing (against Bristol Rovers), but he’s certainly out there buzzing about, which is good.

“Flanagan is back out on the grass, but is still a couple of weeks away. He might have to have a steroid injection in his foot because he’s still got a niggly chipped bone in the joint on the metatarsal. Hopefully, that won’t really interfere with his hamstring rehab, it will just aid it and make him run that little bit more fluidly.”

Denver Hume is also back in full training, and having recovered from a serious hamstring sustained in Johnson’s first game in charge, the left-back played for 45 minutes of a friendly with Gateshead earlier this week.

He has been pencilled in for an Under-23s appearance against Burnley at the start of next week, and has a chance of being involved in the Easter double-header against Oxford and Peterborough.

Johnson said: “Denver’s moving really well. He’s really committing to every action, as you’d expect with his all-action style. He managed to get 45 minutes in a game against Gateshead in the week, and we were looking for that energy as well as the speed and dynamism that he’s got.

“That all looked perfect. There was no impingement there at all. He was a little bit rusty in possession, but you’d expect that after so long out. We’ve got an Under-23s game on Monday against Burnley, and I’d like him to get some more minutes in that. Then we’ll have a look and assess it, and speak to him to see how he feels about the progression back to getting first-team minutes.”