Lee Cattermole hopes to be back to his best for Sunderland this weekend.

Cattermole was a surprise inclusion among the substitutes for defeat to Aston Villa on Tuesday after initially being pencilled in to play for the reserves at Hartlepool tonight.

The 21-year-old modestly played down the significance of his absence, but is desperate to make up for lost time.

He said: "Quite a lot has been made of me being missing and we haven't maybe won as many games or we have lost quite a few games away from home.

"But we have played some tough games. I know we have had some poor results but I will just do my best now I am back to help the team get back on track.

"Hopefully away at Manchester City in Saturday we can just try to keep things tight and come away with something."

Steve Bruce will make a late decision on one of his most influential players after deciding to pitch him into battle last night with just a few days' training under his belt.

Cattermole said: "It's been about eight weeks now I have been injured. I have had three weeks with the physio and he has been working me really hard. I am glad to get away from him to be honest.

"I have joined in training the last couple of days and I said to the manager I would rather be involved with the first team than play a reserve game."