Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole has been out with injury since March.
Sunderland are set to take on Doncaster Rovers on Friday, in what looks a crucial game at the Stadium of Light.
And Cattermole is now fully recovered from an injury, which has kept him out since March.
“Lee is properly in contention now,” Ross said.
“Last weekend, in an ideal world, I probably would not have had him in the squad because he had hardly trained, but we were short of bodies and by having him there, if the game had required it, we could have used him.
“He’s trained well this week, though, and he is at full throttle now.”
Cattermole’s return to Sunderland’s squad can only be good news for Ross’ side.
The midfielder will bring experience and quality to the Black Cats at a time when it is desperately needed.
Sunderland are winless in their last two league matches and they have slipped out of the top two.
Sunderland’s destiny is still in their own hands though, as they have a game in hand over their rivals, and if they win every game from now until the end of the campaign they will be promoted.
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