Sunderland: Tony Mowbray's plans for Edouard Michut

The Black Cats take on Reading at the Madejski Stadium tomorrow night, and rather than returning to the North-East after the game, Tony Mowbray and his players will remain in the south ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Watford at Vicarage Road.

The impromptu training camp will give Mowbray an opportunity to get to know the players in his new squad, and Michut has been included in the group even though the 19-year-old is not yet taking part in full training sessions.

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“He's trained with us this week but we're still protecting him a little bit, he doesn't necessarily do all of the sessions,” said Mowbray. “I think the intensity of the training here has been higher than what he had recently, and so I think the first few days for him were hard and he had to be protected a bit.

“He was feeling it a bit and had a little setback, and we want to build him up bit by bit so he doesn't pull a hamstring or anything like that.

“He's probably a week or two away from being in contention, possibly after the international break he could be. He's coming with us for this trip so that he can do all the training and keep integrating into the group.”

Michut is a France Under-19 international who has made six senior appearances for Paris St Germain, and Mowbray has already seen enough from the teenager to be excited about what he could offer in the remainder of the season.

“He's a very talented footballer,” he said. “I'm not sure how many opportunities he had at PSG but you can see the talent. He's very, very assured with the ball at his feet. He raps it through the lines, he keeps the ball, he can play short and long pass.

“His challenge will be the physicality of this league and it'll be interesting to see how he acclimatises, whether the talent he has on the ball can overcome that.”