REGIS LE BRIS conducted his pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s home game with Plymouth Argyle at the Academy of Light this afternoon.
What were the main talking points to emerge from what the Sunderland head coach had to say?
INJURY BLOW
When Aji Alese was stretchered from the field during this month’s FA Cup defeat to Stoke City, it was immediately clear the defender had suffered a bad injury. Just how bad was confirmed this afternoon.
Alese suffered a broken leg in the incident at the Stadium of Light, and has undergone surgery to repair the damage. He will be sidelined for the remainder of the season, but should be able to join in with the start of pre-season training later this summer.
The 24-year-old has suffered dreadful luck with injuries during his time with Sunderland, and his latest setback is a massive personal blow given that he had established himself ahead of Dennis Cirkin as Le Bris’ first-choice left-back.
His absence for the remainder of the season is also a huge blow to Sunderland, who have lost a valuable figure at both left-back and centre-half.
However, the return of Jenson Seelt softens at least some of the blow, with the Dutch defender having ended a ten-month injury absence caused by a cruciate-ligament issue with a 45-minute run-out for the Under-21s in Wednesday’s Premier League International Cup win over Benfica.
SPEAKING OF SEELT
Seelt has been something of a forgotten man given how long he has been out for, but prior to suffering his injury, the Dutch 21-year-old had made a positive impression.
He faces a tough battle to force his way into the Sunderland side at centre-half given the presence of Chris Mepham, Luke O’ Nien and Dan Ballard, but as an extra option, he could still play an important role between now and the end of the season.
Understandably, Le Bris is still learning about his qualities, but he has already seen enough to know that Seelt has all the physical attributes needed to succeed as a Championship centre-half.
“At the moment, it is difficult to be clear about Jenson’s level,” said Le Bris. “But he has many good attributes for a centre-back. He is tall, he can be quick, but he probably needs time to find his best shape.
“After a long injury like that, it takes time, and his body has also changed during his time not playing. He has become more physically mature.
“He is really good with the ball, now it is just a case of getting more experience on the pitch. He will have more games with the Under-21s, and they should be very useful, and then after that we will see what happens with him.”
TRANSFER TALK
There was plenty of talk about transfers in the press conference, but it’s very unlikely that anything will happen ahead of Saturday’s game with Plymouth.
Sunderland continue to try to bring in a forward, but nothing is imminent and their focus appears to be shifting away from an out-and-out number nine towards a more versatile attacker who could potentially fill a number of different roles in the final third.
There was talk earlier today of potential interest from Everton and West Ham in Dan Neil, but Le Bris seemed completely unconcerned by the speculation surrounding his skipper.
“We have good players, and because we have good players, we can have a lot of interest about them,” he said. “The long-term is one timeline, but when it comes to the short-term, the most important thing is the connection to the team.
“I think these players, in their mind right now, have the story that we are living. They are so connected that, for me, they want to stay here.”
PLYMOUTH
While Sunderland enjoyed a successful midweek, winning at Derby, things couldn’t have gone much worse for Plymouth as they were thrashed 5-0 at home by Burnley.
To make matters worse for the Pilgrims, their best player, Morgan Whittaker, didn’t play on Wednesday night amid strong suggestions that he will be leaving Home Park this month. Middlesbrough and Burnley have both held talks over Whittaker in the last few days.
Saturday’s game is a huge opportunity for Sunderland to build on their midweek win at Pride Park, with Plymouth having picked up just three points from their 14 away matches so far this season.
“Any team in this league can beat any team, so it’s still tough,” said Le Bris. “It is a new opponent and a new scenario, but a good opportunity for us to move forward, especially at home, where we have been good so far. At the same time, though, we need to earn the points.”
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