Sunderland beat Cardiff City on Saturday in part thanks to yet another goal from Eliezer Mayenda

Régis Le Bris has hailed Eliezer Mayenda as a perfect example to his Sunderland team mates after he continued his excellent goalscoring form in the 2-1 win over Cardiff City.

Mayenda retained his place after his brace against Sheffield Wednesday and was on the scoresheet within minutes, his seventh of the season. The youngster also has five assists, a very impressive record given that he hasn't actually started that many games. Le Bris says Mayenda's patience and readiness to impact the game from the bench sets a great example to the dressing room, and that is the perfect example of Sunderland's recruitment policy.

"He's doing very well," Le Bris said.

"I've said it before, he's a good example for all the team. He was on the bench for a long period but kept working, kept trying to be involved with the team and kept trying to improve his levels. Now he's really impressive.

"Here at Sunderland right now we can't buy players at that level so we need to build them. He's playing really well. He seems strong, confident, dominant and it's good. We need that on the pitch to dominate this last part of the season. If he can inspire others that's good. Hopefully we can build this level of confidence for other players."

Le Bris is pleased with Mayenda's progress since his arrival at the club as head coach last summer, but believes the 19-year-old can still take another step forward when it comes to his ruthlessness in the final third.

"He has improved in many areas because he got minutes and he's talented," Le Bris sai,d

"He wants to work hard and improve. He's really connected out of possession, he's very good with back to goal to keep the ball and when he can turn and dribble and push the ball he's really good. In the last part of the pitch he can improve again because if you are more efficient there you are more impactful."

What Régis Le Bris said last week about playing Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda up front together from the start

While many supporters would like to see Mayenda and Wilson Isidor up front from the start of games, Le Bris has made clear that he prefers to switch to this partnership later in games, keeping consistency with the 4-3-3 structure with which Sunderland usually play.

Speaking ahead of the Cardiff City game, Le Bris hinted that one of the two would have to settle for a place on the bench.

"I think it's still important to have some consistency," Le Bris said.

"At the moment, we don't have the opportunity to waste time, this is not possible. Consistency is key and we have done well so far, so it's just a case of keeping this consistency and improving. It's possible to play them together but at the same time, we have 11 games left to play and we have to manage our squad which is quite small. So at the minute, I'm more in the mindset to manage everyone rather than putting everyone on the pitch and it's important to finish well in this league. It's sometimes important to refresh the team and this was the case at Sheffield Wednesday."

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