Régis Le Bris issues Jayden Danns injury update and outlines Sunderland's Romaine Mundle return plan

Régis Le Bris admits that he does not expect deadline-day addition Jayden Danns to be available for Sunderland in the near future as he begins a period of recovery at Liverpool.

Sunderland agreed a deal to sign the highly-rated 19-year-old on Monday but his medical tests unearthed a back injury that needs time to heal. Sunderland pressed ahead with the deal hopeful that he would be able to return later in the campaign to make a significant impact.

Sunderland and Le Bris will be guided by Liverpool as he begins his rehab in the north west and the head coach is hopeful that the situation will become clearer in a couple of weeks.

"We don't know at the moment with Jayden,” Le Bris said.

“We probably have to take it week by week. He's still a very young player and it's fair to say that we have to protect this player. So we will work with Liverpool to find the right moment to bring him into the side."

The injury news elsewhere in the squad is increasingly positive, with Alan Browne back in full training and set to return to the matchday squad for the visit of Watford this weekend. Romaine Mundle should also be back in full training by the end of this week, with Tommy Watson around a week behind him.

It appears unlikely that Mundle will play in either of the upcoming fixtures at the Stadium of Light, and the form of Enzo Le Fée means that Sunderland can introduce him back into the fold gradually. Jenson Seelt is also closing in on his return from a serious knee injury, though Le Bris believes he is best playing some more U21s football in the immediate future.

Le Bris said: "We have a good left winger now! So it's very important to manage the situation with Romaine properly. We would rather Romaine for thirteen, fourteen games fully than have him for two, three games and then he gets a new injury. So we'll manage the next sessions with him and build him a careful pathway back to the team.

"With Jenson, we need to manage his return because he has to adapt. His body has developed a lot since his injury, he is more powerful and so he needs to build a little bit more in the U21s. I don't know exactly when he will available, one, two, maybe three weeks. We will see."