Elliott Dickman has paid homage to the club’s medical team for their work with Josh Maja.
The striker completed 89 minutes on Sunday as Sunderland under-23s faced Liverpool at the Stadium of Light.
Maja played a part in Joel Asoro’s leveller before Liverpool came on strong in the closing stages to run out convincing winners in the Premier League 2 fixture.
However, after being an unused substitute in the first-team’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Reading at the start of the month, Dickman believes Maja is making good progress under the supervision of the club’s medical team.
“He managed to nearly get 90 minutes against Liverpool and probably should’ve done," he said.
“It is great for him to be on the comeback trail.
“He has trained a lot with the first team and done little bits with ourselves,” he continued.
“He is there or there about and the fact that he has managed to get the 90-minutes nearly is a credit to everyone involved in his rehab programme and the medical team.
“They have managed him really, really well and moving forward it is up to the manager and the first-team staff to decide on where he is and what he is doing.
“If he is with us then great but if he is with the first team then that’s great for the Academy."