Sunderland's influential midfielder Lee Cattermole is closing in on a return from his knee injury.

The 21-year-old was initially ruled out for 12 weeks after damaging his medial ligament during the 1-0 win over Liverpool on October 17, but his manager is hopeful he could be back sooner than expected.

Bruce said: "Lee is bang on schedule. He is six weeks now and he is bounding around the training ground too, so I would still think he is bang on for three weeks."