SUNDERLAND will leave manager Steve Bruce to decide if and when Titus Bramble should return to his starting line-up.

The central defender has returned to full training after serving a club suspension for bringing the game into disrepute.

The matters arise from Bramble’s arrest in September. He is due at Teesside Magistrates Court today to answer two charges of sexual assault and one of urinating in a public place. A further initial charge of possession of a Class A drug has since been dropped.

The six-week punishment Bramble has served – the maximum permissible under UK employment law – is not in relation to the specifics of those incidents but to the circumstances which allowed them to come about.

That, and his two-week fine, were dealt with by the club’s human resources department – but now Bramble has been allowed to resume training with the first team, the decision on when he should return to the side will be left to the manager.

Bruce was unhappy at what he saw as Bramble’s unprofessionalism, putting himself in a vulnerable position by going night-clubbing the day after the Black Cats’ worst performance

of the season, a televised 2-1 defeat at Norwich City. He said the player he signed for Wigan Athletic and Sunderland had been “disrespectful to the club, myself, but also to the supporters.”

Bramble attracted his manager’s ire for similar reasons last season.

Then, Bramble also went out on a Tuesday night – this time in Newcastle – having missed a League Cup game against West Ham United hours earlier through injury.

Bruce said in September 2010: “I would be disappointed with any of them out on a Tuesday night when you are playing on a Saturday.

“I don’t think they should be in that position at nightclubs on a Tuesday night.

“You are a professional footballer. I said that to Titus and he is in agreement.

“Footballers now need to be a bit more responsible, they need to start behaving themselves.”

That night also ended in a police station, with Bramble bailed over allegations of sexual assault which were later dropped.

His brother Tesfaye was, however, jailed for four-and-a-half years for rape.

Having been told initially to stay away from the club, Bramble subsequently trained on his own with the club’s fitness and conditioning staff and was said to be in good shape when he returned to the first-team fold.

The break for international fixtures means Sunderland’s next first-team game is not until a week on Saturday, when Fulham are due at the Stadium of Light.

Bramble’s former club Newcastle United are there on Wednesday, however, for a reserve-team fixture which offers an opportunity to find match sharpness.

The 30-year-old started the campaign on the sidelines having struggled to get up to speed in pre-season following a knee injury late last season.

However, the sale of Anton Ferdinand to Queens Park Rangers allowed him a three-game run in the side before off-field matters intervened.

Sunderland expect to get a better idea later this week of how long they will be without Connor Wickham, who injured his knee in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat to Manchester United.

Regardless of the outcome, Stéphane Sessègnon says it is important the team adapt to Ji Dong-won.

He said: “Ji came on (as a substitute against the Red Devils), played well and worked hard, but we have to get used to how he plays.”

If Sessègnon continues to be regarded as a wide player, Korean Ji is the only senior striker Bruce can turn to should Wickham miss out against the Cottagers.