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On-loan South American duo Ricky Alvarez and Sebastian Coates are back in training as Sunderland prepare for the trip to Leicester City, Gus Poyet has confirmed.
Alvarez hasn't been involved since picking up a knock in the Premier League win over Stoke City, where as Coates apparently arrived with an injury from Liverpool on deadline day which has proven far more tricky to shift than first thought, resulting in the Uruguayan being limited to just a shaky 45 minutes in the Capital One Cup.
Both, however, are now back in the fold, though how close to an actual return they are remains to be seen. Poyet told safc.com:
Ricky and Seb are back, which is very welcome.
They arrived on the last day of the transfer window with plenty of things to show and bring to the team.
It's going to bring competition; the idea now is to slowly start seeing if they are in contention to play.
You never know when or how long it takes, but it's good to have them back.
In all honesty, it doesn't sound like they are raring to go and all that close to being up-to-speed, but it's good that the injury situation is slowly but surely easing a little. Billy Jones and Emmanuele Giaccherini are expected back in around a week's time, though Patrick van Aanholt remains out with a dislocated shoulder.
