Sunderland today confirmed striker Michael Chopra has returned to Championship side Cardiff on loan for two months. The 24-year-old will stay at Ninian Park, where he scored 22 league goals in 42 appearances in his one season with the Bluebirds, until the end of December.

Newcastle-born Chopra's exploits for the Welsh club earned him a €6.1 million move to the Stadium of Light in July last year, just 12 months after he left his home-town club.

He has managed six goals in 33 appearances for the Black Cats to date, two of them in the 2-0 derby victory over Middlesbrough earlier this season.

However, he has struggled to command a regular place since the summer arrivals of Djibril Cisse and El-Hadji Diouf, and with Kenwyne Jones now back from injury, competition for places has increased significantly.