Summer signing Ian Poveda is said to be “not far away from playing for Sunderland”, but he is unlikely to face his former club Sheffield Wednesday this weekend.

Poveda joined on a free transfer from Leeds United this summer, but has not yet played a second game for the Black Cats, including in pre-season friendlies.

This is due to Sunderland’s excessive caution towards a player who has previously struggled to stay fit, meaning he has always found it difficult to play week in, week out.

Sunderland are determined to repeat that success, especially after handing him a three-year contract in the summer.

“He’s feeling better and he’s been training with the team this week, full training sessions,” Le Bris said.

“He’s not really ready at the moment, but not too far from it, maybe 80 or 90 percent. We want to build a strong foundation for the whole season and be able to play 90 minutes, not just 10 or 20 minutes.

“He hasn’t been involved in pre-season training, so we know the fundamentals aren’t there. That’s why we want to make sure he’s in the best possible shape to start.”

Poveda is part of a strong quintet of Sunderland wingers and appears to be a reliable performer alongside Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts.

The other two, Abdoullah Ba and Romaine Mundle, struggled to make an impact against Preston in the EFL Cup and Le Bris believes they need to improve their end product before pushing for regular starting appearances.

“For them, consistency and the ability to create danger are crucial. I think they have a special talent for creating imbalance, but they are still young in their game.”

“The next step is efficiency, the ability to make important passes, score goals, cross and so on. At the moment they need to take that step to be more involved in the first team, I think.”