Sunderland striker Stephane Sessegnon returns to the squad for Saturday's Barclays Premier League clash with QPR after suspension.
The Benin international is available after completing the three-match ban he incurred for his sending-off in the derby draw at Newcastle, but midfielder Lee Cattermole still has one game left to serve.
Central defender John O'Shea will undergo a late fitness check on his hamstring injury, but Kieran Richardson (calf) is still out, as are long-term absentees Wes Brown (knee) and Titus Bramble (Achilles/calf).
Armand Traore will miss QPR's trip to Sunderland on Saturday in the Barclays Premier League.
The Senegal international was brought off at half-time of Wednesday's 3-2 victory against Liverpool and is out for the next couple of weeks with a grade one hamstring injury.
Clint Hill will travel with the squad to the Stadium of Light but will have a back injury assessed, while long-term absentees DJ Campbell and Heidar Helguson are making good progress.
Teams
Sunderland (from): Mignolet, Gordon, Bardsley, Bridge, O'Shea, Turner, Kilgallon, Kyrgiakos, Lynch, Gardner, Larsson, Elmohamady, McClean, Vaughan, Meyler, Colback, Sessegnon, Bendtner, Wickham, Ji, Campbell.
QPR (from): Kenny, Cerny, Murphy, Young, Gabbidon, Onuoha, Ferdinand, Taiwo, Hall, Hill, Derry, Diakite, Barton, Buzsaky, Taarabt, Smith, Mackie, Wright-Phillips, Hulse, Bothroyd, Zamora, Cisse.
