HE'S fit and finally made his debut at the weekend, but Regis Le Bris has stressed the need for further Sunderland patience with Salis Abdul Samed.

The midfielder endured a frustrating first half of the season, which he had to watch from the sidelines after two separate injury setbacks.

He joined from Lens on deadline day with what was expected to be a minor injury that he'd suffered in one of his final training sessions in France but the problem turned out to be worse than first anticipated. The 24-year-old then suffered a recurrence of the injury on Wearside, which meant it was four-and-a-half months before he was finally ready to make his debut.

Samed came off the bench late in normal time against Stoke City in the FA Cup third round on Saturday and looked neat and tidy until his slack pass that led to the away side's winner.

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Despite the disappointment of the goal, Le Bris was delighted to finally get Samed on the pitch. But the head coach will carefully monitor the midfielder in the next few weeks and won't push for too much too soon.

Sunderland are well stocked in midfield, with Chris Rigg now available again after injury and Enzo Le Fee expected to go straight into the squad for Friday's game against Burnley, so the Black Cats won't be forced into taking any unnecessary risks with Samed.

Le Bris said: "After six months it was a really good step [to get him on the pitch]. It's very clear he needs time to find his best level.

"After six months you can understand he is not connected with his best level. He will need two or three more weeks of full training session connected with the group to find his best condition."