Leeds United loanee Laurens De Bock has indicated he may need another two Under-23s games for Sunderland, combined with hard yards in training, to put himself in contention to feature for Jack Ross.
New signings De Bock and Joel Lynch featured for the club's Under-23 side which lost 3-2 to Middlesbrough on Monday, as they looked to hit the ground running at the Black Cats.
The Leeds loanee, who was firmly out of favour at Elland Road this summer, was happy to have minutes on the pitch for his new club, but feels he needs more playing time.
His view was also confirmed by the manager Ross, revealing that he expects the 26-year-old and Lynch to be fit for the cup game against Sheffield United.
“Laurens [De Bock] and Joel [Lynch] should be available for the squad after this weekend", Ross said at a press conference.
“The cup game will maybe be the first one for them to contend for."
De Bock was happy to turn out for the Under-23s, though he admits that featuring below first team level is not something he is used to. The defender is now focusing on kicking on.
“It was good to play with the under-23s.
"It’s circumstances I’m not used to, but I hope my experience could help them a little bit", De Bock told his club's official site.
“I’m probably going to need a couple more games to get up to speed, I will have to prove myself in training and show the manager I am ready to play in the first team."
The Leeds-contracted player arrived at the Stadium of Light in the summer on a season-long loan agreement.
