Paddy McNair and Josh Maja will make up part of Sunderland under-23s’ squad to take on Everton today.
The duo will feature in the Premier League 2 fixture at Finch Farm as they continue their comeback from injury.
McNair, 22, has played twice of the development team this season after a 10-month period on the sidelines, scoring on his return against Hertha Berlin last Tuesday.
The Northern Ireland international then made the trip to Arsenal on Monday with Maja, who clocked his first minutes since pre-season at Bradford City.
And now the duo are set to ramp up their recovery with the under-23s at the home of last season’s Premier League 2 champions, Everton.
“He (Maja) was one of the shining stars of pre-season with his goals and his work-rate and his quality so it was a big blow when we didn’t have him,” Grayson told safc.com.
“Coupled with a few of the other strikers been out in the first month of the season it wasn’t easy for us.
“It’s nice to now have him back and it was nice to see Paddy (McNair) get 45 minutes again last night.
“Both will be involved on Friday against Everton and continuing to build towards being available for the first team.”
Elliott Dickman also confirmed the development team have no new injury worries.