Tony Mowbray has suggested that Eliezer Mayenda could make his Sunderland debut this weekend.
Speaking to Chronicle Live, Mowbray admitted it ‘could be worth’ putting the forward on the bench if he can have a late impact on the game.
Eliezer Mayenda only scored one senior goal during his time in Ligue 2 with Sochaux, however he has received plenty of praise since he joined Sunderland in the summer.
The Black Cats coughed up around £700,000 to snap up the Spaniard, but received a huge blow when he picked up a hamstring injury only days into his move.
Mayenda has been on the road to recovery ever since, while he has returned to training in recent weeks.
Mowbray has claimed that supporters should be very excited about Mayenda’s ability, saying that the forward is ‘strong, quick and powerful’.
While he won’t be ready to start against Norwich, the Sunderland boss has hinted that he could earn himself his debut from the bench.
“I think we’ll probably put another striker on the bench, and see if it helps us,” Mowbray said.
“Ultimately, he is not ready [to start] because he hasn’t really played football for ten weeks.
“He’s played one 90 minutes at the start of the week, so he isn’t going to be ready [to start] after ten weeks not doing what he’d normally be doing. Is it worth putting him on the bench, and maybe giving him a spell at the end of the game?
“Maybe, because it only takes a second to score a goal. So let’s wait and see.”
Is Eliezer Mayenda the striker we have been waiting for?
Given the difficult starts to the campaign for Mason Burstow and Luis Hemir Semedo, the arrival of Eliezer Mayenda is an exciting one.
Tony Mowbray clearly isn’t keen on Hemir, while his constant praise of Mayenda is raising expectations of the teenager.
It will be a huge relief if Mayenda can come into the team and be that goalscorer that we have needed, though there is quite a bit of pressure on him now that we have been unable to get going with our other attacking options.
Hopefully we can see him come on this weekend, while it is also probably time to drop Mason Burstow.