Egypt winger Ahmed Elmohamady will keep warming the bench at Sunderland until he convinces Coach Martin O'Neill that he deserves his place in the team's line-up.

The 24-year old international player fell out of favor after the arrival of O'Neill mid-season to replace Steve Bruce, who had brought Elmohamady to the Premier League.

“While I’d love to see the likes of Ji (Dong-won), Elmo (Ahmed Elmohamady) and people like that I’ve not seen a great deal of, to get some footballing time, I’m not going to promise it either," O'Neill was quoted telling the English newspaper Hatlepool Mail on Friday.

“I’m hoping that will be the case before the end of the season. But every single minute that anyone is on the field, they have to be deserving of it.”

The former Enppi and Ghazl El-Mahalla player has only played a handful of minutes under the helms of O'Neill after very hot prospects under Bruce. O'Neill is believed to be preparing a major overhaul of the Black Cats squad this summer to build a more competitive squad and Elmo seems to be one of the closest to the exit door.

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