AHMED Abdullahi is set to step up his recovery from injury with a first outing for Sunderland's Under-21s.

The striker joined Sunderland on deadline day from Gent but is yet to feature in red and white, with the Black Cats having quickly decided that surgery on a groin issue was the best course of action to try and fix the problem for the long term.

With Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda both playing well in attack, Sunderland have been able to tread cautiously with Abdullahi rather than rushing the 20-year-old into action.

Abdullahi resumed full training earlier this month and his next step towards a first team debut is an outing for Graeme Murty's Under-21 side. That could come tonight away at West Ham United, though Sunderland's youngsters are also in action twice next week. They're at home to Benfica in the Premier League International Cup next Wednesday before a game against Leicester three days later.

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After a fortnight of training, Le Bris says it's now crucial to see Abdullahi in a match environment.

"It's difficult because he had surgery and so it is a little bit different to just a muscle injury," explained Sunderland's boss.

"But he has now trained fully for two weeks and so he should have some game time with the U21s soon. We'll see him in a game and this is important, because it's not always easy to assess what you can expect from a young player just from training.

"It is different to Salis [Abdul Samed], for example, who has a lot of experience. But he showed good qualities, for sure. He's a good striker with a high level of physicality, he is strong and he looks like a good finisher.

"Now it is a question of playing, we'll see him in the U21s and then we can understand how quickly he will be able to connect with us."

While Le Bris will be patient with Abdullahi, he's excited by the striker's potential.

"He's a big boy, quick and strong," he said last year.

"He's a good finisher, he's young, 20 - so like Eliezer he will need time to develop for sure and to integrate all the elements we have in the team. But he's a good signing.

"We know there is always pressure but of course, we understand they need time to develop and to make mistakes so that they can learn. This will be the case with Ahmed for sure."