on 28 August 2004, he suffered a knock and was substituted in the 25th minute as a result. After missing one match, Caldwell returned to the starting line–up against Gillingham on 10 September 2004 and kept a clean sheet, in a 4–0 win. It wasn't until on 13 November 2004 when he scored his second goal for the club, in a 1–0 win against Leicester City. This was followed up by helping Sunderland keep two clean sheets in the next two matches, making it three in a row. However in a follow–up against West Ham United, Caldwell was sent–off in the 41st minute after clashing with Serhii Rebrov, as the club lost 2–0. After the match, Sunderland appealed against his red card, which was successful. However, his return was short–lived when he suffered a hamstring injury that saw him miss one match. Despite not risking Caldwell return ahead of the match against Leeds United on 26 December 2004, he returned to the starting line–up, as the club lost 3–2. However, his return was short–lived when Caldwell suffered a calf injury that saw him miss two matches. It wasn't until on 4 February 2005 when he returned to the starting line–up against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Caldwell then scored his third goal of the season, as well as, setting up Sunderland's first goal of the game, in a 5–1 win against Plymouth Argyle on 13 March 2005. Despite facing the sidelined during the 2004–05 season, he continued to regain his first team place, playing in the centre–back position for the rest of the season, as the club continued aiming to reach promotion to the Premiership. On 23 April 2005, Caldwell scored Sunderland's winning goal against Leicester City to send his team back to the Premiership, which he successfully predicted. He later said it was the best moment as a footballer. In his first season at the club, Caldwell went on to make forty–one appearances and scoring four times in all competitions. Ahead of the 2005–06 season, Caldwell said that he couldn't wait to play in Premiership now that Sunderland has returned to the top–flight league. Caldwell made his first Premiership appearance in a year, starting the whole game, as the club lost 3–1 against Charlton Athletic in the opening game of the season. However, he missed the next six matches, due to competition in the defence. Caldwell returned to the starting line–up against