Saturday 6 September 2014 19:22, UK
Sunderland boss Gus Poyet admits Patrick van Aanholt still has a lot to learn to become a key player for the club.
Van Aanholt joined Sunderland in August from Chelsea and the Dutchman is still getting used to his new surroundings.
Poyet concedes it will take time before Sunderland see the best of the Dutchman as the club's coaching staff are trying to get the left-back used to their style of play.
"There’s things he needs to do all the time and that’s the mentality we create in training," Poyet told the Sunderland Echo.
"In one training session a week ago, I stopped it because of Patrick and said ‘here, every day, every single ball, whether you are ill or not’.
"He needs to get into that mentality and it takes time. Some people get it in two days, some take three months.
"There isn’t a right or wrong amount of time in which to get it, you just have to hope it clicks quickly."
Van Aanholt has played in all three of Sunderland's Premier League games to date and Poyet admits he is still getting to grips with the pace of the Premier League after spending the last 18 months in Holland on loan at Vitesse Arnhem.
"He’s been playing in Holland for a while where it’s totally different defensively," added Poyet.
"You don’t know whether they’ve got what it takes over here until they play.
"But hopefully we will see the quality from Pat which originally made Chelsea sign him."
