REGIS Le Bris admits he can't offer any guarantees when it comes to the Sunderland future of Pierre Ekwah as the midfielder prepares to make his first appearance of the season at Preston tonight.

Ekwah has been the subject of interest from Udinese in recent months, with reports earlier this summer claiming the 22-year-old is high on the Serie A club's transfer wishlist.

It's not the first time Ekwah has been linked with a move away since joining the Black Cats in January last year, with German club Stuttgart previously linked.

Ekwah still has three years to run on his contract at the Stadium of Light but his former club West Ham would be in line to receive a percentage of any fee should he depart Wearside.

On the pitch, Ekwah has had something of a frustrating summer, with injury setbacks limiting his pre-season game-time. He was an unused substitute as Sunderland got their campaign off to a winning start at Cardiff and is expected to feature at Preston, with Le Bris planning wholesale changes.

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But beyond tonight's Carabao Cup first round tie, Le Bris admits he can't be sure what the future holds for Ekwah.

Asked whether an exit is a possibility this summer, Le Bris said yesterday: "Everything is possible.

"At the moment, Pierre has only been able to play two games in pre season and in the second one, he got injured very early. So now he's ready to play and to compete for the team.

"For sure, he needs some time to feel better and to build confidence and sharpness. So my focus is on tomorrow's game and then after that, we will see what happens. At the moment, he is still with us and I have no expectations as to what happens."

With Ekwah having not played much in the summer, it hasn't been completely clear where the head coach sees the midfielder fitting in. But Le Bris revealed he held tactical talks with Ekwah on Monday morning.

He said: "I spoke with Pierre this morning about his position - when he was young he played as a 10 but neither of us see him in that role now. We think he can be very effective as both a six and an eight, for sure."