Sunderland boss Steve Bruce will not hand Asamoah Gyan a debut at Wigan Athletic if he is not fully fit.
Gyan returns today from international duty with Ghana.
Bruce told safc.com: "I will have to weigh everything up when he comes back.
"In the past I've brought people back in quickly and then thought afterwards that maybe I should have freshened it up.
"Obviously the lad will be desperate to play. We hope he comes back in one piece. He will be assessed before the end of the week and we'll see how he is."