Younes Kaboul has returned to the Sunderland squad for the first time this year for the weekend's trip to Anfield to face Liverpool.
The centre-half has been out since the defeat to Chelsea in December with a hamstring injury, but he has returned to training and even participated in practice matches.
Black Cats boss Sam Allardyce confirmed in an interview that Kaboul will be in the squad for Saturday's clash with Jürgen Klopp's side.
Defensive decisions to make for boss
Lamine Kone was thoroughly impressive on his debut in Tuesday night's defeat to Manchester City, and Kaboul is more than likely going to take a place on the bench on Saturday.
Seb Larsson, however, will be on the sidelines for longer than Allardyce expected him to be, he was initially thought to be out for five weeks, but had has already being out for two months.
"Kaboul will be back in the squad, but Seb is still having a little bit of trouble with the medial ligaments," he said.
Allardyce added, "It's turning out to be a lot longer than we expected and it's obviously concerning for us."
The boss continued, "He's worried about it as well because when the doctors say it should be six weeks or so, and it's not, players worry about it."
He concluded, "Some players heal quicker than others, but it's gone a bit further with Seb, so he's more concerned."
Lens a major doubt for Anfield clash
Jeremain Lens is a major doubt for the trip to Liverpool after picking up a groin injury against City, which led to him being substituted at half-time.
Wahbi Khazri will be on stand-by to make his first start, and Yann M'Vila is also an injury worry for Allardyce with a foot problem after a late challenge from Sergio Aguero.
The signs that Allardyce's new boys were encouraging on Tuesday, with Khazri, Jan Kirchhoff and Kone all impressing on their home debuts, while Dame N'Doye came on for the final nine minutes of the game.