Jayden Danns is recovering from a back issue as he waits to make his Sunderland debut

Jayden Danns was at Elland Road on Monday night as Sunderland look to integrate the 19-year-old into the squad when he is fit to play.

Danns signed for the Black Cats on deadline day after a medical revealed a back issue that required a period of rest and recovery. Danns is currently undergoing his treatment at Liverpool’s training base.

Sunderland head coach Régis Le Bris has confirmed that the Liverpool youngster is not at this stage close to returning, but that the club remain hopeful that he will be able to play a significant part in the push for promotion. Le Bris has been in contact with the striker in order to ease the transition when he does begin to train at the Academy of Light in the hopefully not too distant future.

“We are trying to build a connection with Jayden and the team,” Le Bris said.

“Of course it is not easy while he is injured and we don't know how long [before he returns], so we try to keep the connection and then we will see, maybe in one month he will be available. We have to see. I've spoken with him, absolutely. He is having his treatment at Liverpool but we are doing what we can to build that connection for when he is ready.”

What Kristjaan Speakman said about Jayden Danns loan deal

Speaking after Danns signed on deadline day, sporting director Kristjaan Speakman said that the late discovery of the injury, which no party had previously been aware of, left Sunderland with little time to source another striker. He remains confident that Danns can have an impact when fit.

“Jayden was a player we really wanted to sign and it was just really unfortunate, at the very end we uncovered something. He was fully training, playing... and now he's going to have rest for a period of time. When it comes at a very late hour, it becomes very difficult for us to find an alternative. We had a really good discussion with Liverpool about the way forward and he can hopefully come and join us at some stage. For us it wasn't just about adding numbers to the group, it was about quality and personality. Jayden met both of that criteria.

“Players have to have the physical, technical and tactical qualities to fit into the way we play. For players that are available in January, what they are seeking first and foremost most of the time is game time. We have a nine who is performing really, really and another nine in Eliezer who has played in some different positions and also has an incredible record with goal contributions this season. Finding someone comfortable coming into that setting isn't easy, because I can understand that they know they won't be the number one choice from day one. And I don't think there is any doubt that Wilson deserves to be the number one choice.

“So at the minute, we felt that we've added what was the ideal player in Jayden. So there's obvious disappointment that Jayden is going to be unavailable initially, but that's sometimes how it goes in a transfer window. That's why you have the tests, to pick up these things. Unfortunately there are a lot of decisions made in the last segment of the transfer window, and that doesn't leave you with a lot of room to manoeuvre when you discover some information that you didn't previously know.”

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