Aiden McGeady could return for Sunderland at Morecambe

The Black Cats head to the Mazuma Stadium knowing a win in their final fixture of the season will guarantee them a play-off place, and McGeady could be a surprise member of the matchday squad.

The former Republic of Ireland international has been sidelined since damaging his knee ligaments in November, with an initial comeback date of February having been put back by another two months after his recovery period proved much longer than initially expected.

He trained on the Stadium of Light pitch ahead of Tuesday’s draw with Rotherham United though – taking part in a series of running and ball drills with one of Sunderland’s fitness coaches – and has worked alongside the rest of the first-team squad at the Academy of Light this week.

Given that he has yet to feature under Alex Neil, he is unlikely to start tomorrow’s game at Morecambe, but he could be involved on the substitutes’ bench, which would significantly increase the likelihood of him being in serious contention to start a potential play-off game.

“Aiden’s made good progress,” said Neil. “He’s been on the grass, and he’s training with the lads. We’ll take a view (on whether he is involved at Morecambe).”

Dennis Cirkin is also making good progress on his recovery from a calf injury, although the defender is unlikely to be available against Morecambe, but there is more negative news when it comes to Carl Winchester.

This week’s scans on the Northern Irishman’s muscular injury have revealed significant damage, and after he was forced off in the early stages of last weekend’s 5-1 win over Cambridge United, there is a good chance his season is already at an end, regardless of whether Sunderland make the play-offs or not.

“Dennis isn’t far away,” said Neil. “He’s pain free now, which is good, so we just need to step up his preparations now as much as anything. But it’s (the news on Winchester) not particularly good. It’s certainly going to be weeks rather than days.”