Sunderland could be without Granit Xhaka for more Premier League fixtures due to an ankle injury

Régis Le Bris has revealed that Granit Xhaka is facing at least a fortnight on the sidelines with an ankle injury.

Xhaka missed his first league game of the season as Sunderland fell to a 3-1 defeat at West Ham United, with the club’s talisman a significant absentee in the first half in particular. Le Bris has confirmed that Xhaka is almost certain to miss next Monday’s next game with Burnley at the Stadium of Light and could be a doubt for the fixtures which immediately follow.

Le Bris said: “He has an ankle injury, so he'll need at least two weeks to recover and then we'll have another assessment to set the real period of rest, so we'll see.”

Le Bris’s decision not to reinforce Sunderland’s midfield in the absence of Xhaka backfired as West Ham United scored three first-half goals, but the head coach said he did not feel selection was the primary issue. He said it was a system that had worked well when the Black Cats earned a point against Manchester City on New Year’s Day and that his side had simply not been good enough all over the pitch.

Le Bris said: “Yeah, they were better than us in the first half, scored three times, could have scored more goals, better in duels, more composed and the ability to threaten our goal and to score, so they were better, yeah, I agree.

“We played more or less like that against Manchester City, for example, so with probably two more creative midfielders, but we used this set-up during the friendly games at the beginning of the season and I expected a good workflow. I think the team selection is not probably the main point, it's more about our level during this first half. We can talk about tactics, about the way we defended this side or this side, the way we attack or defend.

“It was a question of individual level and we were too far from our standards and when it's the case in this league, you get punished.”

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Régis Le Bris addresses Granit Xhaka confrontation with West Ham United fan

The game was paused briefly just before stoppage time as Granit Xhaka appeared to be involved in a verbal confrontation with a West Ham United fan close to the Sunderland dugout. Le Bris said he wasn’t aware of what had happened and that he didn’t want anything to deflect from a poor display from his side.

“No, the bench is too far from the sideline where I was,” Le Bris said.

“I didn't see what happened and haven't spoken with anyone about it.

“We don't want to think about the environment, we are thinking about us. The main point at the minute is that we are not at the level that can happen. It's important to analyse and repeat, to learn, to work hard and to prepare for the next game. Nothing else.”

On the incident, West Ham United boss Nuno said: “I don’t know what happened. I spoke to the referee who said we had to pause the game, I just asked him how long he would add on [as a result]! Whatever it was, I hope it was solved.”

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