AARON CONNOLLY is set to be on the bench for Sunderland’s home game with Leeds United, but Regis Le Bris does not envisage the recent arrival featuring in tomorrow night’s game at the Stadium of Light.

However, with two Under-21s matches scheduled during the forthcoming international break, Connolly should be up to full speed for the resumption of the Championship campaign at Hull City in the middle of the month.

Connolly joined Sunderland as a free agent last month, having been released following the end of his previous deal at Hull earlier this summer, and arrived at the Academy of Light without having had any pre-season training.

Le Bris has been impressed with both the 24-year-old’s general fitness levels and his attitude in training since joining up with the Black Cats squad.

And with Connolly having been pencilled in for the Under-21s matches against Derby and Huddersfield over the course of the next fortnight, the striker should be contending for a first-team spot at Hull’s MKM Stadium on October 20.

“Aaron is fit,” said Le Bris. “He’s in good shape and he wants to play, and he’s a good player so we want him to play too. Because of Ian’s (Poveda) injury, he could be on the bench for the Leeds game, although he won’t be involved because we want to take care of him and we don’t want to rush the process.

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“He’s ready, and we’ll use the Under-21 games that we’ll have during the international break to give him some time to play. Then, for sure, he should be ready after these next two weeks.”

While Connolly will be appearing for the Under-21s during the international break, summer signing Salis Abdul Samed will not be able to feature for the second-string.

The midfielder joined on a season-long loan from Lens on deadline day, but has been unable to take part in full training since his arrival because of a long-standing muscular issue. The injury is continuing to cause problems, with a potential comeback date still some way off.

“It (the U21 games in the international break) will be too early for him (Samed),” said Le Bris. “I’m not sure when he will be back yet because it is the same injury that he has had before so we need to be very patient with him. That is the main thing at the moment.”