Sunderland boss hails former Hibs player as he shows his true quality at Black Cats after Leith building block
The player struggled to make a Hibs impact but has used time at Easter Road to make himself a Sunderland difference maker.
He was limited in his Hibs impact - but one Sunderland player has used the time in Leith as a springboard to Sunderland regularity
Regis Le Bris has brought Eliezer Mayenda into his Sunderland fold this season as they push for promotion out of the Championship and back to the promised land of the Premier League. He has netted six goals with five assists this campaign.
His most recent outing was at Hillsborough on Friday night where he netted a double in a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday. Last campaign, Mayenda and Nectar Triantis completed loans from the Black Cats to Easter Road and while the latter has now turned into a key player for David Gray’s side, Mayenda played just four times.
Impressing the boss
That hasn’t set him back though with his boss impressed with the way he had conducted himself since heading back to Sunderland. Manager Le Bris said: “Eli is still very young. He is only 19 and he is still learning. Even when he is on the bench, he is learning because when you are a young player, you can learn from being behind Wilson, who has been very impressive this season.
“You have to wait for your opportunities, and if you are working well every day during the training sessions, then you can be happy, even if the situation is not necessarily the best one in terms of always being in the team.
“When you have an opportunity, you have to be ready to play, and he showed some very good qualities with his performance. I thought he played very well.
“Wilson has done really well this season and for sure is one of the best strikers in the league. At the same time, we need two or three strikers to be competitive in this league. It was the right time for him to recover a bit and Eliezer was ready, he's trained properly and been connected with the team.
“It was very important to refresh the team because most of the players have played many games. The depth of the squad is really important. We had four or five players able to play, and they deserved to have this opportunity. They played well.”
Coming good
Mayenda himself had belief in the fact he would come good after his time at Hibs came to an end and he returned to Sunderland. He said: “Everybody knows that the Championship is not an easy league. Some players need a little bit of adaptation, a little bit of time to adapt to the league. It's just a physical league.
"I'm a Spanish guy. If you compare it to Spain, Spain is a little bit more technical, but I can play in the Championship. I try to show that I can play in this league in every game. I work every day on the training ground. I'm very happy to score, I will be trying to score in the next games, if possible. For the team, the most important thing is to win the game. If I play just 20 minutes or 90 minutes, for me it's the same thing.
“You can stay just a little bit frustrated. I don't think like that. I don't feel like that. I want to help the team in every game. If I start on the bench, it's not all right, but it's football. The gaffer is the boss. If the gaffer thinks for the next game, I will make a bigger impact on the bench, just let's do it."