Sunderland boss confirms Ahmed Abdullahi debut plan and explains what fans can expect from striker

Régis Le Bris has confirmed that Ahmed Abdullahi is ready to make his first appearance in red-and-white since joining the club from Gent last summer, but it will be in the U21 side to begin with.

Abdullahi underwent groin surgery shortly after his arrival on deadline day, with the Black Cats deciding it was the best way to deal with a pre-existing issue for good. The striker has now been back in full training with his new team mates for around a fortnight, and is ready to start playing competitively.

Le Bris has been impressed by what he has seen in training, but says he needs to see the youngster in a match environment before establishing how close he is to being able to impact the senior team. The U21s play three times over the next seven days, starting with a fixture at West Ham on Friday night.

They also play at the Stadium of Light next week as they welcome Benfica B in the Premier League International Cup, which could be the ideal opportunity to give him some game time.

"It's difficult because he had surgery and so it is a little bit different to just a muscle injury,” Le Bris said.

“But he has now trained fully for two weeks now so he should have some game time with the U21s soon. We'll see him in a game and this is important, because it's not always easy to assess what you can expect from a young player just from training. It is different to Salis, for example, who has a lot of experience. But he showed good qualities, for sure. He's a good striker with a high level of physicality, he is strong and he looks like a good finisher. Now it is a question of playing, we'll see him in the U21s and then we can understand how quickly he will be able to connect with us.”

After sanctioning Aaron Connolly’s departure to Millwall, Sunderland are now looking to recruit their forward line with another striker and have been heavily linked with a move for Leicester City’s Tom Cannon.