PAOLO Di Canio has admitted Danny Graham lacked physical fitness and mental confidence when he first took over at the Stadium of Light.

With Steven Fletcher, Stephane Sessegnon and Connor Wickham all unavailable, Graham will play a crucial role when Sunderland host Stoke City this evening looking to increase the two-point gap that currently separates them from the relegation zone.

The former Swansea striker is still to score his first goal since completing a £5m move from the Liberty Stadium in January, but Di Canio insists there are mitigating factors behind his barren spell.

Like a number of his team-mates, Di Canio claims Graham was short of match fitness in the early days of the Italian's reign, a deficiency he immediately set about rectifying.

And perhaps more damningly, the Sunderland boss has also revealed the striker did not really feel a part of things after regularly being consigned to the substitutes' bench under Martin O'Neill.

“When I arrived, Danny simply was not fit, not fit enough to play in the Premier League, in my opinion” said Di Canio, whose side were plunged back into the heart of the relegation mix when Wigan twice came from behind to beat West Brom on Saturday. “I do not want to point the finger just at him because that was a general thing.

“He also had a long face as he walked around the field during the first few training sessions and I thought, 'Can he play football?' Not because he couldn't pass because that was fantastic. So I talked to him about this.

“Now, after three games, it has changed. Why? Because he feels part of the club. He participates now.”

Graham's importance to Sunderland's cause increased markedly when Sessegnon received a straight red card at Aston Villa last Monday. The Benin international will play no further part in the Black Cats' season, depriving Di Canio of his most important attacking presence.

Graham scored seven goals for Swansea in the first half of the season despite not being a regular starter, but the North-Easterner has rarely looked like breaking his duck in a red-and-white shirt.

He failed to convert an inviting opportunity against Fulham and saw a good early opportunity against Everton saved by Tim Howard, yet clear-cut chances have been few and far between in his ten Sunderland appearances.

Nevertheless, Di Canio insists the 27-year-old is not suffering from a crisis of confidence, and has backed him to make his mark in the final three matches of the season.

“It is normal for someone like Danny to score every two or three games so I know what it is like for a player who normally scores goals,” said the Sunderland boss. “I have been talking to him about how we can use his quality depending on how we are going to attack the opposition.

“I always encourage him, but I don't have to go too deep with Danny and convince him because this is not a bad moment for him. He is doing well.

“I see him in training every day in a good mood and he is very closely involved in the way we go through the drills. He is always the one trying to persuade his team-mates to give more.

“He is active, he is not passive. He is not sad, not down. Players can have problems, but Danny has no problems, for sure. I am sure he will be crucial in these last three games and I'm not saying that because he is the only striker we've got. I'm sure he is going to score in the next three matches.”

As well as working with his players on the training ground last week, Di Canio is understood to have met his fellow countryman, Roberto De Fanti, who is set to be appointed as Sunderland's new director of football in the summer.

De Fanti is currently working on a consultancy basis as Ellis Short looks to revamp his scouting and recruitment system following the axing of Bryan 'Pop' Robson, but the Italian is set to be installed into a more formal position at the end of the season that will see him assume control of the club's signing policy.

Di Canio will still be involved, although the former Swindon boss' more immediate task is to assemble a team to beat Stoke tonight, and with Sessegnon absent, he is set to revert to a five-man midfield.

It is anticipated that Adam Johnson and James McClean will start in the wide positions, with Craig Gardner, Seb Larsson and Alfred N'Diaye lining up inside them, although it remains to be seen who is charged with the task of pushing forward to support Graham in his lone striker role.

Whatever side Di Canio decides to play, Sunderland's concentration levels will have to be much higher than they were at Villa Park, when a string of unforced errors contributed to the Wearsiders' heaviest defeat of the season.

The Black Cats collapsed entirely in the second half seven days ago, but Di Canio is confident there will be no repeat tonight.

“It won't be a problem again,” he said. “What happened last Monday was too much, even for the worst professional in the world. We are playing on a Monday again in front of our fans, and I can bet everything I've got that there will be no repeat.”