Ghana captain John Mensah is making progress from his hamstring injury and has an outside chance of making the first-team squad for Sunderland game against Manchester United on Saturday.
This means the defender should be fit to play for the Black Stars when they take on Sudan in an African Cup of Nations qualifier on 10 October.
But Kieran Richardson has yet to resume training and has no chance of returning to the side this weekend.
Manager Steve Bruce revealed the mixed news on the injury front as he prepared for Saturday’s game, ahead of an international break which he hopes will see more players reporting back for duty.
In a week in which Sunderland have been boosted by the return of both Michael Turner and Craig Gordon, the manager says he feels that the options he has available will allow him to put out a competitive side this weekend.
He said: “All the lads who played at the weekend have come through unscathed and are available for this Saturday – that includes Michael Turner who did terrifically well to be available for the Liverpool game in the first place.
“The only player we’ll be missing is Danny Welbeck, who can’t play against his parent club.
“John Mensah and Anton Ferdinand have both done a bit of training, so they’ll be touch and go when it comes to selection but Kieran’s got no chance.
“None of the injuries to those three are particularly serious. They’re typical hamstrings, but we’ve got to exercise caution to make sure we don’t aggravate them.
“I thought Phil Bardsley did very well at left-back at Anfield, so I’ve got an option there.
“And with the two-week break now coming up after the Manchester United game, I’ve got the comfort of knowing that if I give Kieran this time out to recover, he’ll be ready for the Blackburn Rovers game when the fixtures resume.â€