REGIS LE BRIS has been explaining why he has not made many substitutions in Sunderland's recent matches, and why that might change soon.

While managers in the Championship can make five substitutions in a game, Le Bris has rarely used his full complement of replacements in recent matches even though the Black Cats have been trying to turn draws into victories.

Eyebrows were raised on Tuesday night when Aji Alese and Eliezer Mayenda were the only players to leave the bench, even though Sunderland were struggling to break down a well-organised West Brom side in a game that eventually finished as a goalless draw.

Last weekend, Le Bris only made one change in the 1-1 draw at Millwall, bringing on Milan Aleksic for his senior debut in the second half.

It is clear that while Le Bris has named the likes of Abdoullah Ba, Adil Aouchiche and Nazariy Rusyn on the bench this month, he remains extremely reluctant to turn to players who were effectively cast aside in the summer. While Leo Hjelde and Zak Johnson have also been named in the matchday squad, they are really just there to cover any defensive issues that might arise.

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Things should change in the next few weeks, with Dennis Cirkin set to return for the home game with Stoke City and Salis Abdul Samed, Jenson Seelt and Ahmed Abullahi all hoping to be available before the end of the year.

Romaine Mundle and Ian Poveda should not be too much further behind as they look to complete their own recovery programmes, and once his options have increased, Le Bris will be much more willing to turn to his bench.

“I hope we can start (to use substitutes more),” said Le Bris. “The last part of the game is very important.

“Here, we have so far had a strong core of 11, 12 players, then younger players who are very talented, but who are not yet at the same level because of their inexperience.

“The gap was a little (too) high, and of course we have to accept inconsistency because they need to build this with time.

“It is the identity of the club to give them these opportunities, and sometimes they will struggle, but if, for part of the season, we have 16,17 experienced players at the level, then it will be different (for me).”