Noah Sadiki played a crucial as Sunderland booked their place in the fourth round of the FA Cup at Everton

Régis Le Bris marvelled at Noah Sadiki's work rate after the midfielder produced another tireless display against Everton just days after his return from the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sadiki went straight into the starting XI and played the full 120 minutes as the Black Cats progressed to the fourth round of the FA Cup with a 3-0 penalty shootout win over Everton.

Le Bris revealed afterwards that Sadiki had told the club after DR Congo's elimination from the Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday evening that he wanted to be back in training and back playing for the Black Cats as soon as was possible. The Sunderland head coach quipped that he expected Sadiki to suffer from some fatigue at some stage, though on the evidence of this season so far he couldn't be sure.

"Straight after the elimination from AFCON, Noah told us that he wanted to train immediately, as quickly as he could," Le Bris said.

"He wanted to make sure he could be back connected with the squad as quickly as possible, and that is a good sign. We spoke [on Friday] about his fatigue, but he said he was ready and the way he played [at Everton] proved that. Maybe one day it will happen that he gets some fatigue, but I don't know when! He played a very good game once again and is a really important player in our squad. With Granit [Xhaka], Noah and Enzo [Le Fee], I think we had a really strong midfield."

Le Bris's decision to pick a strong side was vindicated as the Black Cats picked up a morale-boosting win in front of almost 8,000 travelling fans.

"We were ready to fight," Le Bris explained.

"We want to be strong every day. We didn't want to take unnecessary risks with three, four, five players it was obvious, but the depth of the squad is good. We played this game at 100% intensity. I think for the next round it will be the same.We don't know who will be the opponent so it's always tough to say we'll win, we don't know. But at least respect the game and try your best."

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Bertrand Traoré emerges as Sunderland injury worry

Though Sadiki went straight back into the starting XI, Reinildo and Bertrand Traoré were absent.

Le Bris expects Reinildo to be available to face Crystal Palace on Saturday but Traoré is a doubt at this stage having returned from AFCON with an injury issue. Brian Brobbey is expected to be available despite coming off in extra time at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

“We are not too worried about Brian because it was tightness in his hamstrings,' Le Bris said.

"We have had this previously with him, so we didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks. With Reinildo and Bertrand, we will see. Rei might be available next week, but Bertrand has come back with an injury that we will have to assess. It is an injury issue he has come back with, but we don’t really know any more than that yet.”

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