Sunderland lost 3-0 to Coventry City on Saturday afternoon.

It has been a week to forget for Sunderland. First, the Black Cats left it late to salvage a point in a drab display against Preston North End at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday evening, before travelling to Coventry City on Saturday afternoon and soundly capitulating in a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Frank Lampard’s side.

That result represented Regis Le Bris’ heaviest defeat in English football to date, and heading into the international break, has raised concerns amongst some sections of the fanbase that Sunderland may be running out of steam at just the wrong moment in their promotion push.

But with a spot in the play-offs seemingly assured, how can the Black Cats hope to regain their momentum ahead of an anticipated tilt at Wembley?

How can Sunderland regain their momentum ahead of the play-offs?

Speaking on the latest edition of On the Whistle, The Echo’s chief Sunderland writer Phil Smith said: “This is a unique situation really, with Sunderland pretty much knowing their fate so far out from the end of the season. It's quite common for a team to know they're going to be in the play-offs from three or four games out, and then you sort of have that debate about do you rest and rotate, do you try and just attack it with your best team to build some momentum? But to be so far out and having this conversation is quite unusual for Sunderland.

“And in some ways I think that's a bit of a positive... I think there is time to regain that momentum, I think there is still time to do what you need to do in terms of freshening the team up and still have three or four games at the end where you can really attack it with your best team. I think the main thing is going to be some recovery time. It's blatantly obvious that a lot of players in this team need a break and so the international break is going to be a really important time for that.

“The concern with that is that a lot of players are going away on international duty, so you don't know how much rest these players are going to have. It's something I spoke about in the pre-match press conference with Le Bris, and he said we have built really good relationships with these national teams, especially with the youth teams, in terms of how we manage the minutes of these players. He's hopeful that is something that will continue to bear fruit, and that these players will be looked after and they won't be overplayed during the international break.

“So yeah, I think rest and recovery is the most important thing and the one positive is players like Dan Neil, Patrick Roberts, Luke O'Nien, Wilson Isidor - these players are going to get a proper break now, which could be really, really important. It's very rare for Dan Neil to come off 10 minutes into the second half [as he did against Coventry]. That tells you that he's just not at the level we know he's capable of and I'm quietly hopeful that a couple of weeks rest will make a difference for him.”

The Echo has launched a new WhatsApp SAFC Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click this link to join our SAFC WhatsApp channel.

How important will it be for Sunderland bring players back from injury?

Phil continued: “I think the other thing I would say is that [having] a couple of players back is going to make a big difference. I think the one positive that I'm clutching to, and hopefully I'm not being overly optimistic, is that Enzo Le Fée, if he's not back for the Millwall game after the international break, he should definitely be back for the West Brom game. I'm hoping that will have a massive impact. I think especially with Mundle and Watson - who again, they're going to have a couple of weeks more training now, which will hopefully benefit them - the opportunity to drop Le Fée into midfield, which I think is a position where Sunderland are really struggling for energy at the moment, with the quality he's got and his willingness to take the ball, his ability to make things happen, the impact that will have on everyone really in terms of lifting the mood, I'm hopeful will make a difference.

“I think the other thing is to try and increase the pool of players, really. I thought Alan Browne would start [against Coventry]. I thought that against Cardiff, he had an excellent first half before tiring, which was understandable because he hadn't played much football. So I'm really surprised he hasn't started one of the last two games. I really thought he would come on at half-time yesterday or at least in the first set of subs. To me, I just think his energy and Championship experience, it looks like something Sunderland are crying out for a little bit in midfield.

“So I was really surprised he didn't come on until much later in the game. Then when he did, he came on on the right wing. I thought that was strange, to be honest. Sunderland need some new energy. They need someone who's really got something to prove and really eager to get on the pitch and make things happen. Le Fée will do that naturally too.”

Your next Sunderland read: Ex-Sunderland, Sheffield United and Portsmouth man reveals interesting new off-field role in Australia