Sunderland are back in action when they face Liverpool at the Stadium of Light on Wednesday night
Régis Le Bris has said Nilson Angulo is ready to play a significant part for Sunderland after making his debut from the bench against Arsenal.
Angulo came on late in the game just days after his arrival from Anderlecht, having concluded a £15 million deal on transfer deadline day. The Sunderland head coach was asked ahead of Liverpool's visit to the Stadium of Light on Wednesday whether the Ecuador international was ready to start and while he gave little away in terms of his starting XI, his answer made clear that it's firmly in this thoughts.
"He's ready to play," Le Bris said.
"He's played a lot of football this year at a good level. He's ready."
Sunderland travel to Oxford United on Sunday in the fourth round of the FA Cup, which will likely be another opportunity for Angulo to impress. While new signings can sometimes take a while to adjust, Angulo is unusually experienced for a winger of his age and has played in similar positions to that which Sunderland use. As such, Le Bris doesn't feel he'll need to be overly cautious with introducing Angulo over the coming weeks.
"It's a good point," Le Bris said.
"He has good experience in European football. He's played as a winger and a wing-back. He's really involved and versatile in offensive and defensive tasks. That's good for us.
"After that, Sunderland is built like that. We are ready to give opportunities to players even if they are not supposed to be ready, it's our philosophy. At the minute he's in a good place."
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Régis Le Bris on Sunderland’s challenge against Liverpool
Le Bris has warned his players that they face a stern test even if Liverpool have been struggling for consistency this season, and believes they are stronger than when the two sides drew 1-1 at Anfield earlier in the season.
“Yeah, they were probably a bit low in energy at that moment,” Le Bris said.
“We played well away, it was a good game. We had the opportunity to win, they scored late and we had, I remember, a counter-attack just at the end with Wilson in the 1v1. So it was maybe the third win away but it wasn't, finally. So I think they are getting better and they are strong. They have a few injuries, but the manager is really good. They are Liverpool and it's a must-win for them once again.So it will be a tough challenge. So it's an exciting challenge for us, but a tough one.”
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