Sunderland boss explains Ian Poveda latest in injury update ahead of Sheffield Wednesday clash
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has issued an injury and team news update ahead of the clash with Sheffield Wednesday
Regis Le Bris has confirmed that Ian Poveda will not be involved to face his former club Sheffield Wednesday on Sunday.
Poveda is yet to make his Sunderland debut after arriving on a free transfer late in the pre-season programme. Wednesday had been keen to sign the winger after his hugely successful loan at the club in the second half of last season, when he played a pivotal role in their successful bid to beat relegation.
The 24-year-old is now in full training with his new team mates and while Le Bris believes he is very close to being involved, his determination not to take any risks with the winger means he is unlikely to feature as soon as this weekend.
“He's getting better and trained this week with the team, full training sessions,” Le Bris said.
“He's not really ready at the moment but not too far off, maybe 80 or 90%. We want to build strong foundations for the whole season and to be able to play 90 minutes, not just him being available for 10 or 20 minutes. He wasn't involved in pre-season so we know the foundations aren't there so we want to be sure that he will be in the best way to start.”
Le Bris confirmed that he has no new injuries ahead of Wednesday’s visit. Dan Ballard remains sidelined but is expected to begin joining in with some parts of training from next week, hopefully clearing the way for his return at the end of the month.