Sunderland's Ahmed Abdullahi plan explained as youngster takes major step towards senior debut

Ahmed Abdullahi is closer than ever to his Sunderland senior debut but is likely to complete a full game with the U21s before joining Régis Le Bris's matchday squad.

Abdullahi was in superb form for the U21s in midweek, scoring a hat-trick in a 7-0 victory over Huddersfield in the Premier League cup. That had followed his first goal in red-and-white for the U21s just days previous, that time in a 5-0 win for Graeme Murty's side.

Abdullahi returned to fitness over the festive period after undergoing surgery to fix a pre-existing groin issue for good shortly after his deadline-day arrival from Gent. The 20-year-old then suffered some minor injuries and after a period of recovery, returned to the U21 fold.

Le Bris outlined his return-to-play plan last week and the Nigerian forward now has just one hurdle left to clear.

“He struggled a little bit with his return to play initially," Le Bris said.

"He was ready, but then after that he had some small issues. It wasn’t a repeat of his main injury, but it was something around the injury. Now, he is ready to play, so we will see what happens. I hope he will be ready to play some games progressively – 45 minutes, 60, then a full game with the U21s to build himself into his best shape."

The U21s have two games over the next week, hosting Reading on Monday night before travelling to Southampton next Friday. All being well, Abdullahi should be in contention after those games.

U21s boss Murty said there were clear signs that the striker was beginning to get back to his best as he gets more minutes under his belt.

“He looks fitter, he looks stronger,” Murty told The Echo.

“I think he looks more confident in himself and his body. I think that whenever we can provide an opportunity at the end stage of rehab to instil confidence in a player who's been out for a period, in their body, in what they're trying to do, it's a really good thing for us.

“I think the goals are a bonus. The goals, you can see him actually coming alive when he's starting to trust what he's doing and he's getting that reward. For a forward player, I think particularly getting a hat-trick tonight is going to be really good for him.

“Having been an athlete where your be-all and end-all is that game. When that game isn't there for you, you miss it so much. You just want to get back there as soon as you can. He's getting closer. He's almost smelling it now.

“For him to see that tangible improvement in his performance, that really puts into context the hard work he's doing away from here. "No-one gets to see the hard yards, the bits where you're in pain to actually get to the next level. That hopefully will give him the stimulus to continue to move on and hopefully get his next step."

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