PITTSBURGH — Ben Roethlisberger is back for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Coach Mike Tomlin confirmed the news on Tuesday, saying the two-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback is preparing to play Sunday against unbeaten Cincinnati after missing four games with a sprained knee and bruised leg.

“We don’t have any reservations or limitations about his availability,” Tomlin said. “As I sit here today, we are comfortable with where he is in his overall availability this week.”

Roethlisberger initially feared the worst after he left in the third quarter of a September win at St. Louis, but he was relieved to learn the injury didn’t end his season.

Now, he’s returning on the early end of the four-to-six week timetable that was projected, and just in time.

Pittsburgh, which went 2-2 without Roethlisberger, is 4-3 overall and 2½ games behind the Bengals for the top spot in the AFC North.

Roethlisberger lobbied to play two weeks ago against Arizona, returning to 7-on-7 work and pushed harder last week prior to Sunday’s game at Kansas City.

He practiced in a limited capacity for three days last week and was listed as questionable on the injury report before the Steelers gave Landry Jones his first NFL start after he sparked the team to a come-from-behind win a week earlier.

The Steelers hope for the same boost from Roethlisberger.

He mentioned some discomfort in his knee late last week. Tomlin said the Steelers will keep an eye on their franchise quarterback during practice to make sure there aren’t any setbacks.

“I’m not going to monitor it personally,” Tomlin said. “I’ll let Ben and the medical staff take care of that business, and I’ll just check in with those guys periodically.”