'Massive positive' - The 'big boost' Regis Le Bris has carved out for Sunderland ahead of Coventry City clash
Sunderland’s bill of health is largely clear heading into the Championship play-offs
Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris has made no apologies for sticking to his guns ahead of the Black Cats’ Championship play-off campaign.
Once it was apparent the his side were guaranteed a place in this season’s top six, the Frenchman took the decision to rest and rotate several key members of his squad in an effort to ensure that he had a fully-fit contingent heading into Friday’s semi-final first leg against Coventry City - even as results tailed off in the latter stages of the regular league campaign.
Consequently, Sunderland rounded off their season with five successive losses in the Championship, but Le Bris can perhaps feel vindicated by the fact that, with the exceptions of a couple of notable exceptions, his first team cohort is predominantly available to him at the most crucial juncture of the Black Cats’ promotion bid.
Did Regis Le Bris make the right decision by rotating his squad ahead of the Championship play-offs?
When asked during the latest episode of The Roar podcast how well Le Bris’ recent rotation had served him in terms of ensuring the fitness of his squad, The Echo’s chief SAFC writer Phil Smith said: “I think probably just about as well as we could have hoped. I think the big update yesterday [Wednesday] was that [Romaine] Mundle is unlikely to play any part on Friday night, which I think is a big blow.
“I've got to be honest, I never anticipated him to start the game. I think looking at the fact that he hasn't played since early April, in that West Brom game, but also the fact that he was only just then coming back from a previous hamstring injury, I didn't see him come back into the starting XI, but I thought he'd potentially be a really good explosive option off the bench late on. So that's a big blow.
“Aji Alese, we're kind of waiting to see whether he'll be involved on Friday night. Both of them should be able to play some part on Tuesday, which could be really important. I think aside from that, I think there are a lot of positives in terms of where the squad's at.
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“I think the fact that [Dennis] Cirkin and [Dan] Ballard are both genuine contenders to start the game [against Coventry] is a massive positive, because I think three, four weeks ago, there obviously would have been a big question mark over that when they both had hamstring injuries. So the fact that their return has been successful, I think is a big boost - especially Cirkin, because as we've discussed a few times, I think Sunderland have really lacked having a natural attacking full-back on that left-hand side.
“And then obviously the other aspect of it is that we haven't had any other injuries in the last couple of weeks. You know, all those key players who Le Bris has managed, he's sort of wrapped up in cotton wool, they're all ready to go for this game. So I think this is what this has all been about.
“Le Bris has spoken to people within the club. He knows what happened in those Luton games [the 2022/23 play-off semi-finals] when the squad was in a really, really bad place physically - certainly not mentally, or even in terms of their level of performance. And so having this whole strategy has been about avoiding that, and it's been largely successful, I think. And if you're looking for reasons to be positive, I think that's clearly the main one.”