Régis Le Bris names the 'impressive' Sunderland player who surprised him at Millwall with quality display
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Régis Le Bris singled out Eliezer Mayenda for praise after Sunderland's draw with Millwall and says the young forward has shown he can be a genuine option on the right wing.
Patrick Roberts' suspension and Ian Poveda's injury meant the 19-year-old returned to the starting XI in a wide role at The Den and in difficult circumstances caught the eye of his head coach. While there was immense frustration that Sunderland conceded in the 93rd minute, Le Bris saw positives for the bigger picture in the way that those who came into the side performed.
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Hide Ad"Eliezer played as a right winger and I spoke with him this morning about it," Le Bris said on Monday.
"I said that I had no expectations about him before the game because we didn't know how he would do, and he did very well.
"Aaron showed he can play as a ten. We played a very good game in the first half and this is good for the depth of the squad. We know we need 16/17 players able to play and make an impact as a substitute. We would have liked to have won more games [recently] but I think for our process, we are heading in the right direction.
"It is good for me. Sometimes when you have fewer players, it can force you to be creative. In that situation the players can find out new layers about the game and it was really the case here. When I spoke to Eliezer this morning I said that I did not expect too much because I knew this was new. He played very well as a real winger. There are many things to improve, distances out of possession, the triggers [for pressing] and so on but the way he played against Millwall, a good team and especially away, it was impressive. These were tough conditions but it created an opportunity to find something new. It can be like this with young players, you think you are struggling a lot but you can discover something new and it's really enjoyable for me."
Roberts is likely to return to the starting XI on Tuesday night to face West Brom alongside Trai Hume and Jobe Bellingham.
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