DAN BALLARD has backed his new Sunderland team-mate Hemir to be a goalscoring success at the Stadium of Light.

Hemir joined the Black Cats in a summer move from Benfica, having spent last season playing for the Portuguese side’s B team.

The 19-year-old started the opening-weekend defeat to Ipswich Town, but was on the substitutes’ bench as Sunderland lost at Preston last Saturday, with Tony Mowbray opting to go with Bradley Dack in the ‘number nine’ role.

With the Black Cats having been unable to transfer breakthrough so far this week, it remains to be seen whether it is Hemir or Dack leading the line when Sunderland host Rotherham United on Saturday.

Hemir is the more physical of the pair, but is also understandably raw given his lack of senior experience. Ballard accepts it will take the teenager time to adapt to the demands of the Championship, but is confident he will make a positive impact as the season progresses.

“He’s got some really good qualities and he’s naturally a fantastic footballer,” said the centre-half. “It’s probably going to take maybe a few games to adapt to this style of play. I remember my first games in the Championship, it was tough.

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“He’s not going to hit the ground running from minute one, it might take a few games, but I think you’ll see hopefully in the next few games or first part of the season him really start to show his qualities. He’s a goalscorer so is someone who we need.”

Sunderland’s recruitment team have brought in a number of relatively untried youngsters this summer, with Ballard accepting that he and his more senior team-mates have a key role in trying to speed up the settling-in process.

“It’s our job to sort of help them through it,” he said. “I had really good pros around me who helped me, so I think it’s important that the lads sort of get around them, help them out and not put too much pressure on them and just let them do their stuff. They have all got quality and that’s why they are here.”