TONY MOWBRAY is hoping to be able to unleash a secret weapon in the second half of the season – a Sunderland player who has spent a significant chunk of the last 12 months training with Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe.

Since joining Sunderland on loan in the summer, things have not exactly gone to plan for Edouard Michut. A series of niggling injuries that followed a lengthy period of acclimatisation in the wake of his move from France mean the 19-year-old has made just four substitute appearances in a Sunderland shirt and is still waiting for his maiden start for the club.

Rewind to the months before his move to Wearside though, and Michut was training with the first-team squad at Paris St Germain, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Messi and Mbappe, who will line up against each other in the World Cup final tomorrow.

Michut, a France Under-19 international, made his debut appearance in the French top-flight almost two years ago and claimed a Ligue 1 winners’ medal last season after participating in five league matches for PSG.

His pedigree is impeccable, so while Mowbray admits there have been some teething problems as Michut has attempted to come to terms with the demands of the Championship, he is confident the teenager can make a significant impact in the second half of the campaign.

“He has to be patient, but I know the talent he has,” said the Sunderland head coach. “It’s very, very obvious when you watch him train. He's a very good footballer who was training with Messi and Mbappe a few months ago.

“I have total respect for his talent, I just think he needs to train a bit more in my mind, build up that resilience for this division.

“I think the second half of the season is going to be better for him. He’s had a few knocks and niggles and he knows he has to be more robust, but with the schedule here in the Championship, we think the opportunities are going to be there so much more for him in the second half of the season.”

Michut’s best performance for the Black Cats came when he left the bench as a second-half substitute in October’s 1-1 draw at Luton.

He was pencilled in for a starting spot in the game at Huddersfield that was due to come five days later, but suffered another injury issue in the build-up to the match at the John Smith’s Stadium.

He has not been involved with the first team since, but having stepped up his training in the last week or so, he is set to be part of the group that will travel to Humberside ahead of tomorrow’s game with Hull City.

“He has to be ready,” said Mowbray. “He hasn’t played for four or five weeks, but he has been doing work on his own, in his own mind he’s ready so it's just been about going through the (selection) process with him.

“I’m getting across him to that it's an unforgiving league, it's tough to go bang and straight into central midfield in this division with the kind of time out he's had. He’ll come to Hull with us, and we’ll see if he makes the squad.”

Ross Stewart is also set to feature in the squad for tomorrow’s game, although the Scotsman is unlikely to be thrust straight back into the starting line-up after missing three months of football.

Stewart sustained a thigh injury in the warm-up ahead of the Tees-Wear derby defeat to Middlesbrough, and suffered a minor recurrence after playing for 60 minutes of a behind-closed-doors training game last week. However, he trained fully yesterday and is set to return to the squad.


Sunderland (probable, 4-2-3-1): Patterson; Gooch, O’Nien, Batth, Alese; Evans, Neil; Amad, Pritchard, Clarke; Simms.