Sunderland boss Steve Bruce is keeping his fingers crossed after Kenwyne Jones' return to action was ended prematurely by a dead leg.

The 25-year-old Trinidad and Tobago frontman managed just 20 minutes of last night's 3-0 reserve team victory over Wigan on his return from suspension before he limped off with a dead leg.

However, Bruce is hopeful Jones will be fit to make the trip to Fulham on Sunday as the Black Cats attempt to find a remedy for their recent bout of travel sickness.

Bruce told the Sunderland Echo: "Kenwyne's got a dead leg and we expect him to be okay for the weekend.

"To lose him again would be a blow, but hopefully things will be fine - and he has an extra day to recover with the game not being until Sunday."

Jones was injured as he won a 12th-minute penalty with his manager watching from the stands at the Eppleton Colliery Welfare ground.

It was his first action since he was needlessly sent off for pushing West Ham defender Herita Ilunga during the 2-2 Barclays Premier League draw between the clubs on October 31.

As a result, he missed the defeats at Tottenham and Wigan either side of a famous home win over Arsenal.

In his absence, leading scorer Darren Bent has played largely as a lone frontman with mixed results, particularly at the DW Stadium last weekend when the Black Cats were a shadow of the side which had defeated the Gunners just seven days earlier.

Sunderland's away form is a growing concern - they have won only one of their last 17 league games on the road, at Bolton on the opening day of the current campaign - and that is in stark contrast to their return at the Stadium of Light this season.

Having lost 10 times on Wearside during 2008-09, they have done so just once in seven attempts this time around with only leaders Chelsea to date having emerged with all three points and Liverpool, like Arsenal, having fallen by the wayside.

That has left the club in eighth place in the table with 20 points from 14 games, although only four of those points have come away from home.

Aside from their success at the Reebok Stadium, Sunderland have collected just one more point on their travels - at Manchester United - and have lost to Stoke, Burnley, Birmingham, Spurs and Wigan.