Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray could make his debut this weekend
Eliezer Mayenda may make his Sunderland debut this weekend against Birmingham City, according to Tony Mowbray.
The striker, who plans to play in a game behind closed doors next week in an effort to improve his match fitness, will only be used in a cameo capacity.
Due to a hamstring issue, Mayenda has not been able to play since joining Sochaux in the summer. However, after two weeks of intense training with his new teammates, he is very close to making his debut.
“I think there’s every chance he’ll be on the bench this weekend,” Mowbray stated.
“It’ll be a cameo role if he does come on; he’s still only played ninety minutes against Hibernian behind closed doors. He hasn’t played much, so we’ll have to be careful. He’s going to play in a bounce game next Wednesday; he’ll play in that regardless of whether he gets minutes this weekend because we need to get him playing.
“I think there’s every chance he’ll be on the bench this weekend,” Mowbray stated.
“If he plays, it will only be in a cameo capacity, as he has only played one 90-minute game in secret against Hibernian. We’ll have to use caution because he hasn’t played much. Regardless of whether he plays this weekend, he will participate in a bounce game on Wednesday because we need to get him on the court.
“He’s a great guy who wants to learn and ask questions, and he’s training really well. He also keeps hitting the back of the net.”
“As coaching staff, we’re looking forward to seeing him out there, but what we don’t know is how quickly he’ll get up to the intensity of the championship. It’s OK to play training games, but it’s also about how you cope with me screaming at him to get back and chase the opposition full back! He has to be able to do that as well.
“But he’s very talented, and he’s got a wand of a left foot with real power in it. He’s very dynamic, quick, fast. There’s nothing stopping him being a really good player and hopefully he can put that onto the pitch at first-team level.”
Mowbray is unlikely to make many changes to his squad with the injury situation otherwise unchanged from recent weeks.
The head coach does have a major decision to make in defence, with both Dan Ballard and Luke O’Nien suspended.
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