Sunderland suffered a 3-0 defeat against Coventry City on Saturday

Sunderland are facing a huge test over the coming weeks and months. The Black Cats are all but assured a play-off place in this season’s race for promotion from the Championship, but have seen their momentum falter of late, and suffered their heaviest defeat under Regis Le Bris to date in Saturday’s 3-0 loss against Coventry City.

To that end, questions have been asked as to whether the club’s willingness to put their faith in youth may be catching up with them at this crucial juncture of the campaign as fatigue and a lack of experience begin to take their toll. But how true are those suggestions, and what can Sunderland do to combat their recent slump heading into an anticipated run at the play-offs in May?

Is Sunderland's squad strategy catching up with them?

When asked whether the youthfulness of Sunderland’s squad was playing its part in the Black Cats slight drop off in recent weeks during the latest edition of On the Whistle, The Echo’s chief Sunderland writer Phil Smith said: “Yeah, definitely. I mean, there is a pattern here, there's absolutely no doubt about that. Obviously, last season there were some exceptional circumstances in some of the off-pitch stuff that was going on - the changes in manager, that had a huge impact on us around this time of year, but it's definitely a pattern.

“We've seen a lot of the time, this is the part of the season when young players, especially the ones who are in their first professional season or their second professional season, have a big dip. It's definitely an issue. It's something we spoke about at the time, Alex Neil's almost ruthless management [during the League One promotion campaign], if you like, when he came into the club, in acknowledging players who'd been overplayed, players who were tired. Development almost completely went out the window. He focused on getting 11 players on the pitch who could get the team promoted.

“I suppose that poses a really interesting question moving forward, and whether Sunderland can get promoted without that kind of attitude towards the end of the season. I think you have to put the other side of it forward as well, which is that I've lost count of the number of managers who, through the first 30 games of the season, really, really praised the fact that Sunderland had such established patterns of play, that the players were so familiar, that they had this almost telepathic chemistry in certain areas of the pitch. That only comes with using a small group of players who play together regularly.

“I think the fact that Sunderland overachieved so much, and were so much better than the chasing pack through the first half of the season, owed a lot to the familiarity that they had on the pitch. I do also think that, generally speaking, where possible, it's better to have a smaller squad, because then everyone feels really, really involved. Everyone feels that they're really, really close to being involved. I think you get a better level of dressing room chemistry and a better level of training as a result of that.

“It is a fine balance, and sometimes you do wonder if Sunderland had slid too far in terms of the experience and the size of the squad the other way. I think the big thing for me this season is having a small core of the squad can potentially be positive. I've outlined why earlier. The big thing for us is we just haven't had those players come in and bolster it. Obviously, Salis Abdul Samed is someone we thought could have a really beneficial impact on that midfield. It just hasn't been able to happen. Then there are Dan Ballard's injury issues, Aji Alese’s injury issues. I think if you look at someone like Ian Poveda as well... Personally, I think Patrick Roberts has had a really good season, but I think you've seen the consequences of him just not having anyone to take the load off him, because obviously the Ian Poveda signing so far just hasn't worked out.

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“Then again, you look at January, Jayden Danns... Hard to be too critical when you find a back injury that he wasn't experiencing any symptoms of in his medical. But again, I think that's an example where I think a small squad and a young squad is okay, but definitely towards the second half of the season, we were all saying that we're going to need these players to come in and have an impact. That just hasn't materialised. I think that's had a massive impact on why things have gone in the last couple of weeks they have for Sunderland.

“The concern is, is that going to change towards the end of the season? We don't really know. Le Fée is going to come back, and as I said, I think that's going to be a huge moment in Sunderland's season. I think that could give the whole place a real lift. Samed, I think is still a couple of weeks away after the international break. Again, will he be able to build as much sharpness before the end of the season? You don't know. Dan Ballard, hopefully, will be able to come back and have an impact if he can stay fit, which would be massive. But again, there's some uncertainty there. Jayden Danns, Ian Poveda, Ahmed Abdullahi, are these guys going to be able to play any real part in the season? We just don't know. So I think there is a definite concern there, just in terms of the squad depth.”

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