He played the full 90 minutes for Sunderland Under-21s in a behind-closed-doors encounter with Blackpool at the Academy of Light but will not be rushed back.
Brown re-aggravated a knee injury during the summer’s pre-season tour of South Korea, and the first time he has managed to complete a full 90 minutes since January last year.
Martin O’Neill: “Wes has been getting through the work on the training ground for a while now, and it is encouraging.
“But he is a million miles away from being available for a match, and it would be wrong to put any spotlight on him after having been out for as long as he has been.
“We have just got to let Wes get on with it, and I hope he keeps going in the right direction.”