REGIS Le Bris is backing new Sunderland striker Aaron Connolly to resurrect his career on Wearside after the former Republic of Ireland international linked up with the Black Cats this week.

Le Bris believes free agent Connolly - who joined on an initial short-term deal until the end of the season - is a good fit for his side and Sunderland's boss is confident he can get the best out of a striker who burst on to the Premier League scene five years ago with Brighton before his career went off track.

Connolly won't feature for the Black Cats at Watford on Saturday but Le Bris says the striker is in "good condition" and expects him to be ready to play after the October international break.

Sunderland turned to the free agent market after deadline day striker signing Ahmed Abdullahi needed surgery on a groin problem, but the capture of Connolly raised eyebrows given the 24-year-old's struggle in recent years and underwhelming spells at Middlesbrough and Hull.

But Le Bris is backing the nine-time Republic of Ireland international to be a hit on Wearside.

He said: "We know the market for strikers is very difficult so we we were not in a rush to find one striker absolutely, we wanted to find the right striker.

"Aaron could be this one. He has many qualities, he’s a very talented player and he has a very interesting pathway from before.

"Now I think that he is here in a good condition and with all of the experiences behind him, we hope that he can be a good player for him."

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Sunderland have history when it comes to getting the best out of gifted players who have fallen off course, with the likes of Alex Pritchard, Pat Roberts and Jack Clarke having all got back on track at the Stadium of Light.

And Le Bris believes that can also be the case with Connolly.

He said: "I think so. Here, we have this mindset about creating the condition to develop players and to help them grow.

"Every player has their own pathway, and you need bad and good experiences to find your best path to succeed.

"It’s obviously very interesting to have bad experiences as well because, when you are talented like he is, maybe you can think that anything is possible even with some wrong decisions sometimes.

"Now he is 24 and we think that this experience could be very interesting for both Aaron and the team as well.

"We had many, many profiles behind the scenes and many were interesting in the perspective of football but we were not sure about the link, contacts, history and the identity and team spirit so we decided to avoid these signings.

"For Aaron, we assessed this part and we thought at the end that it was possible."

Le Bris has been impressed by Connolly's fitness and although the striker won't go straight into the squad, the Sunderland boss doesn't think it will be long until he can call on his new recruit.

He said: "He’s in a good condition, which was very important for us and it shows that during this long period [since leaving Hull] he took care of his condition.

"He has had the possibility to think about his past experiences and to change and to change something and this was the case as his condition was very good.

"He didn’t train with a team for three months and wasn’t in a specific situation of XI v XI, which is very different from five v five and other physical stuff.

"He will need time, but because he is in a good condition I am confident that we will see him maybe after the international break."