REGIS LE BRIS will have to make trade-offs in the final few weeks of the season.
Sunderland’s head coach has the unenviable task of balancing the ever-present short-term demand for performances and results against the longer-term need to ensure his squad enters the play-offs in the best possible shape.
It will be no easy feat for the Frenchman.
Fans who have spent good money to make the 600-mile Good Friday return trip to Bristol City this afternoon will, understandably, want to see Le Bris field his strongest available side.
But, with a place in the play-offs already assured, the big picture demands a slightly more pragmatic approach - and not least because the trip to Ashton Gate is the first of two games in four days over Easter with Blackburn Rovers due on Wearside on Monday.
No one will remember a swashbuckling Sunderland win in the West Country, or in any of their remaining games come to that, if it results in key players picking up injuries or leaves them fatigued going into the play-offs.
So squad rotation is a necessity in the run-in, and Le Bris has made it quite clear that that is his plan.
We have already seen it in action. Wilson Isidor has started four of the last eight games, and been involved from the bench in the other four.
The likes of Dan Neil and Chris Rigg could well be rested - at least from the starting line-up - for the odd game in the run-in.
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With no need to rush Enzo Le Fee back into action, he has been reintroduced gradually following his recovery from injury.
Jobe Bellingham has sat out the last couple of games through injury and is expected to be involved from the bench at Bristol, before likely returning to the starting line-up against Blackburn.
Dennis Cirkin could also be involved on Monday as he returns to fitness.
Essentially, these final few games are a prelude to the play-offs.
As long as they hit the ground running when it matters, I’m sure Sunderland fans will cut them a little slack over the next fortnight.
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SUNDERLAND'S fine season has been recognised with a trio of nominations in the annual EFL Awards.
Jobe Bellingham has been shortlisted for Championship Young Player of the Season, while academy graduate Chris Rigg is in the running for the Championship Apprentice of the Season, and both have strong claims to win their respective awards.
Regis Le Bris has been shortlisted in the Championship Manager of the Season category.
His fellow nominees - Leeds United’s Daniel Farke, Burnley’s Scott Parker, and Sheffield United’s Chris Wilder - will almost certainly finish above him, with their clubs occupying the top three slots in the final league table.
But Le Bris’ achievements have come in his first season in English football, with a club that trailed in 16th last season, and with team that - unlike Leeds, Burnley, and Sheffield United - has not been powered by parachute payments.
I don’t know whether the decision-makers will look any further than league position, but if they do then Le Bris will be a worthy winner.
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CARLTON FAIRWEATHER was part of the fabric at the Academy of Light for more than two decades, and news of his death from pancreatic cancer this week has left everyone at Sunderland in mourning.
Carlton’s early work as a community coach at Sunderland, then with the academy age groups - most recently the U18s - along with his three-year spell in charge of the ladies’ team, meant he influenced the careers of countless players who passed through the club’s ranks.
For media types like me, Carlton was always the most welcoming person, always had time to chat and talk about the youngsters coming through, and his huge smile lit up any room he walked into.
I will miss him tremendously, and my thoughts are with his family and friends.
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