SUNDERLAND head coach Gus Poyet could hand Anthony Reveillere his Premier League debut in next Monday’s trip to Crystal Palace.

Reveillere signed a short-term deal until the end of the season last week and was an unused substitute in Saturday’s home defeat to Arsenal.

The 34-year-old right back was signed as cover for Billy Jones and Santiago Vergini, but after a string of costly errors Poyet is likely to shuffle his pack if he has the options to do so at Selhurst Park.

Given the fact Reveillere has not played competitively since last season when he was released by Napoli, the former France defender’s match fitness has been a concern.

However, in his press conference to preview the Arsenal game last week, the Black Cats boss revealed the defender has impressed during both fitness tests and training.

Tellingly, Reveillere wasn’t part of the development team’s 1-1 draw at Southampton yesterday and the club confirmed there were no plans to hold a behind-closed-doors friendly this week.

That suggests the Frenchman is ready to make his bow when the Wearsiders travel to the capital.

The last time Poyet had more than four fit defenders to choose from – the 3-1 win over Stoke – Wes Brown was left out and the centre back’s costly error in the run up to Alexis Sanchez’s first goal on Saturday could see him drop to the bench.

Meanwhile, Sunderland are waiting to find out the extent of Steven Fletcher’s foot injury.

The Scotland international hobbled off five minutes into the second half after receiving a stamp on the top of his foot and he has undergone x-rays to determine to severity of the problem.

A long lay-off is the last thing Poyet needs having seen the striker begin to regain his match sharpness in recent weeks and his lack of options up front.

Connor Wickham has been preferred out wide, while Jozy Altidore continues to play a peripheral role from the bench and Emanuele Giaccherini is out injured.

That leaves Danny Graham as the club’s only other fit senior striker, but he has been linked with a move away from the Stadium of Light having made just one substitutes appearance all season.

The Black Cats have been keen to sell Graham ever since he returned from his loan spell at Middlesbrough during the second half of last season.

Several clubs have made enquiries over his availability, but the Black Cats are keen to recoup a significant chunk of the £5m they paid for his services almost two years ago and so far they haven’t been able to strike a deal.

However, Championship outfit Brentford are now front-runners to sign the striker having expressed an interest in taking the 29-year-old on loan.

The Black Cats dropped into the bottom three yesterday after rivals Newcastle recorded a surprise win at Tottenham.

Poyet’s side face Crystal Palace on Monday night with Neil Warnock’s men sitting one point above the Wearsiders.

Adam Johnson was recalled to the starting line-up on Saturday, but the midfielder’s impact going forward was limited because he was required to do more defensive work.

The form Johnson showed back in January – when he scored seven goals in a month - helped Sunderland claim valuable points in their fight against relegation last season, and the 27-year-old hopes he can have a bigger impact against Palace on Monday.

“If you ask any wide player or any attacking player, in games like this you find yourself playing as a right-back for virtually all of the game,” Johnson said. “Against the big teams it's difficult to get into the game and get two-v-ones. It's difficult. But hopefully against the teams around us we can show our attacking side a lot more.

“We never go into game not trying to score. We tried to keep it tight but also have an influence on the game and try to create chances ourselves.

“It was always going to be difficult because they had a lot of the ball but they weren't really hurting us with it. It just comes down to mistakes.”