Vito Mannone underwent a surgery back in August after he picked up an elbow ligament injury in a training session with the rest of his teammates in Sunderland.

After completing his operation, it was initially expected that his complete recovery would take a minimum of 3 months but the Italian goal-keeper is recovering at a faster pace and might be able to return to the pitch sooner than it was predicted.

The 28 year old goal-keeper has recently talked about how things have been going for him after sustaining this injury as he said:

‘’I am ahead of schedule so that’s a good thing it the injury is not as bad as expected at the beginning.It’s been very hard but I knew it would be a challenge right at the beginning when I got injured. It’s the first real injury I have had in my career. I have been lucky so far so I just have embrace the pain, face the challenge and come back stronger as soon as possible’’

“The medical team has been exceptional, and they have been with me since this problem happened. I’ve been working every day, double sessions. They have really worked me hard, and they’ve had the chance to do that because we have no game. I have been training like I never have done before! Hopefully this training will help me come back as strong as I possibly can.”

While Vito Mannone has been attempting to get back in playing form, Jordan Pickford has turned into the main shot-stopper of Sunderland and even though he has actually been having impressive performances it has not been enough to stop Sunderland from either losing or drawing matches at a consistent basis.

Out of the 9 opening matches Premier League matches of the season, Sunderland has not been able to win a single league game and they are currently positioned at the bottom of the top tier English League with 2 points being collected so far.

Maybe with the return of Vito Mannone can help Sunderland escape from the hole that they are pitted in and spark life back to the squad.