Poyet tells Giaccherini to come back 'perfect' after being ruled out for rest of season

The Italian playmaker has made just four starts this season after missing the start of the campaign, before limping off against Burnley with an ankle injury that ruled him out until last month.

The former Juventus man suffered a recurrence of that injury and will not return until at least the end of the campaign, but Poyet may consider leaving him out until next season to allow him to recover fully.

“Emanuele is going to be out for a while,” confirmed Poyet. “It is incredible that he had a big injury after the Burnley game and it took him a while to come back, and then when you think everything is good he had another knock in the same area on the same bone and now it is going to take a little bit longer.

“He is practically going to be out right until the end of the season which is unfortunate for us, but we wish him well and I want to say a full recovery - not a quick one - so that we can count on him next year.”

Giaccherini was one of Sunderland’s brightest players in pre-season, but took a knock in the game against Udinese and did not feature for the Black Cats until late in August in the Capital One Cup fixture against Birmingham City. His most recent game was the 3-1 FA Cup fourth-round replay at Fulham last month.

Poyet is frustrated that one of his most creative players will be unavailable, but does not want to take any risks with him.

“He was like a new player in pre-season,” said the head coach of Giaccherini, a £6.8m signing under Paolo Di Canio in 2013.

“I was happily surprised and I was really thinking about somehow finding a place for him in the team, so that was my challenge.

“He showed it at the start of the season and when he came back it was a different way because it was from an injury, but at Fulham he also showed something special and then he got a kick.

“Let’s say that it is a season to forget for Giaccherini, so we just need to make sure he feels perfect for next season.”