Sunderland's Dame N'Doye reveals why he is prepared to be patient in his second Premier League spell

On-loan Trabzonspor striker N’Doye joined the Black Cats midway through January but he is yet to start, making his debut as a late sub in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester City.

N’Doye, who enjoyed a productive spell with Hull City last season, is pleased to be back in the top flight of English football though.

And the 30-year-old, who scored five goals in 15 Hull appearances, is prepared to be patient for his chance to impress boss Sam Allardyce.

“It was good to be playing, it is always good to be back and on the pitch and it is good to be back playing English football again,” said N’Doye.

“I have had to wait but we have a good team and we support them all, it was just a matter of waiting.

“I managed to get on against City, playing nine minutes, and I just have to be patient.”

N’Doye, who failed to make it off the bench in the draw with AFC Bournemouth, was one of several players lacking match fitness when he first arrived but two friendly games behind closed-doors have boosted his sharpness.

And he is now ready to make an impact for the first team, with a trip to face Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool to come on Saturday.

The trip to Anfield holds no fear to N’Doye though, with the ex-Hull City frontman convinced there is enough “spirit” among the Black Cats squad to stay up - despite the club’s perilous position.

And he believes 19th-placed Sunderland can come away with something if they produce the same level of performance they managed against Manuel Pellegrini’s side.

He added: “There is enough spirit, we have many more games left and we have to be strong mentally for the next few games.

“We have to forget this one, put it behind us quickly and move on. If we win three or four games then we will go up [the league].

“If we play like that at Liverpool we can get something,” added N’Doye, who was pushed out wide on the right when he replaced Fabio Borini.

Sunderland rightly felt hard done to against Pellegrini’s side, with Sergio Aguero’s 16th minute strike enough to seal all three points for the title-hopefuls.

But the scoreline didn’t reflect the game with Allardyce’s side more than a match, with England No 1 Joe Hart forced into three superb saves to deny Jermain Defoe, Billy Jones and Wahbi Khazri.

N’Doye added: “We feel a bit hard done by because we did well.

“It was a bad goal to concede but we did well overall, we missed some luck and some chances but that is football.

“The second half, in particular, we played very well, looked compact and strong but just couldn’t find a goal.”