Sunderland deadline signing not close to debut, admits Regis Le Bris

So far, only Chris Mepham from Sunderland's four deadline day signings has made an impact. That is unlikely to change soon.

Sunderland midfielder Salis Abdul Samed / IMAGO / PanoramiC

Deadline day signing Salis Abdul Samed will not play for Sunderland until after the next international break, Regis Le Bris has confirmed.

Samed joined the Black Cats from Ligue 1 club Lens in September, and his arrival created something of a buzz considering he was playing Champions League football just last season.

However, he is yet to make an appearance for Sunderland due to injury, and it seems he will continue to be absent until November 23rd when Le Bris takes his men to Millwall.

“Salis maybe for the next international break,” Le Bris said.

“[He] picked up an injury at Lens in one of his last sessions there. He kicked the ball and felt a pain. The first assessment was not completely accurate so we had to reassess it later.

“He then suffered a recurrence in the same muscle and then it becomes very difficult to take a risk. For the first time [it's possible] because you are still young but the second time, you need to be very careful.

“So, if he feels sore, we need to reduce the load and to take time to avoid another recurrence - because it is the worst scenario for everyone. So this is the position we are in. There will be time for him to make an impact.

“It opens the options for others, so we take care of the injured players and focus on those who are [available], and at the moment they are good.”

Le Bris also gave an update on fellow deadline day signing Ahmed Abdullahi who, like Samed, arrived injured and is yet to see any action for his new club.  

“Ahmed had surgery so it is still difficult when you have to recover,” he said. “It is invasive, so the reaction of the muscles. We will see with the load of his training.

“Maybe it will be shorter or longer, we don’t know at the minute. Maybe in mid-November or the beginning of December.”

Meanwhile, Dan Ballard and Elizer Mayenda, both of whom were injured before the international break, will not be fit for the trip to Hull this weekend.

Le Bris says both are close to fitness, though, and shouldn’t miss too much more action.

“[Mayenda] should be ready for next week,” he explained. “Maybe, I am not sure for Luton but for Oxford he should be ready. Ballard should be ready for next week as well.”

Finally, Le Bris provided an update on long-term injury victim Jenson Seelt. The former PSV man has been out of action since March with a serious knee problem, but he posted a picture of himself training on Instagram this week, heightening hopes that he could be close to a return.

Le Bris, though, was quick to scupper those hopes.

“With Jenson it is still difficult because it was a big injury,” he said. “We have different stages and we need to check at the different stages.

“But he could be ready in January to train with the team, and after we will see. As we said with Aaron Connolly, he’ll need time with maybe 20 minutes, then 45 and so on, so we will see his progression.”