West Brom to assess Stephane Sessegnon
West Brom will assess the fitness of Stephane Sessegnon ahead of tomorrow's trip to Sunderland following the winger's return from international duty.
The 31-year-old was the last player to report back to the Baggies training ground yesterday after a fruitful trip away with Benin.
He scored three goals in two games against South Sudan during Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.
Frozen out during the early stages of boss Tony Pulis' reign, Sessegnon has been a regular for Albion since being brought back in from the cold last October for the home meeting with Sunderland, his former club.
Yet any chance of him now featuring in the reverse fixture rests on proving he is fully recovered from his long-distance exploits and Pulis has admitted Sessegnon is a player whose fitness always needs consideration.
The Baggies head coach said: "Sess is one of them, you have to be careful with him. He showed a lot of ability and it's lovely to have someone like that in the team who can do that ,but we have to be careful with him.
"Generally, most wide players will tire at some stage. They're asked to do a lot more physically in respects of short sharp bursts, more energetic than maybe a central midfielder."
Albion are set to be backed by a bumper away following after laying on free coach travel for their supporters to the Stadium of Light.
Callum McManaman is another hoping to be included in the squad for what will be the 150th league meeting between the clubs.
He made his return from an ankle injury in a behind-closed-doors friendly with Burnley earlier this week.
Midfielder James Morrison could, meanwhile, return for the trip to Manchester City on Saturday week.
The 29-year-old has not played since suffering a hamstring injury in January's 2-2 draw at Chelsea, but is now set to return to full training.
