Tony Mowbray addresses Isaac Lihadji's situation at Sunderland as summer window looms | OneFootball

Sunderland head coach Tony Mowbray has revealed that he is planning to hand Isaac Lihadji the opportunity to start for the club during the opening stages of the 2023/24 campaign.

The Black Cats are set to play in the Championship again next season after suffering a defeat to Luton Town in the play-offs earlier this month.

Lihadji did not feature in either leg of the semi-finals as he was forced to watch on from the substitutes bench.

Signed by Sunderland in January from Lille for an undisclosed fee, the winger made his debut for the club in their 1-0 victory over Reading in February.

Mowbray opted to deploy Lihadji as a substitute on five further occasions in the Championship.

The winger made his final senior appearance of the season during the closing stages of Sunderland's 3-0 win over Preston North End.

Since making this particular switch, Lihadji has also been deployed at Under-21 level by the Black Cats as he has played three games in the Premier League 2 Division 2.

What has Tony Mowbray said about Isaac Lihadji's current situation at Sunderland?

Making reference to Lihadji's situation at the Stadium of Light, Mowbray has insisted that the winger will be given the chance to start games during the opening stages of the new term.

Speaking to the Sunderland Echo ahead of the upcoming transfer window, Mowbray said: "As a staff, we all really like Isaac.

"He's a very, very talented player with lovely, fast feet.

"He's lithe and can get past people, he can flip it over their foot and glide inside and they can't get back to him. "He can manipulate the ball very well, and he's a high-quality footballer - it's just sometimes to get him on and get him up to the intensity of the game is really difficult. "And so we've only seen him in little spurts. "I think when he starts football matches and plays for an hour or so, fans will see a really good footballer who can make things happen for the team. "He's just been a bit short [of action] because it's difficult with players like Clarke and Amad and Roberts [to take them off] because they're contributing and giving you that feeling that they are going to score, to create something. "He plays in a position where we've been really strong and so he just has to be patient. "Early on in the season, there's no issue with rotating a little in a three-game week, so a Clarke or a Roberts can sit on the bench and he can get a go. "Or in other games he can come on after an hour and hopefully make something happen for us.

"Hopefully he can be a success at this club and I think fans are going to be excited by his talent once he gets going."

Will Mowbray be able to further Lihadji's development next season?

When you consider that Mowbray has managed to nurture the talent of Amad Diallo, Anthony Patterson and Jack Clarke this season, it would not be at all surprising if he is able to further Lihadji's development.

Under the guidance of the Sunderland boss, Diallo and Clarke both reached double figures in terms of goals, while Patterson claimed 14 clean-sheets in the Championship.

Having never played in England before sealing this switch, it was always going to be difficult for Lihadji to make an immediate impact for Sunderland.

However, with a full pre-season under his belt, there is no reason why the winger cannot go on to make a positive impact during the 2023/24 campaign.