Régis Le Bris explains Sunderland injury latest with Dan Ballard, Dennis Cirkin and Romaine Mundle latest

Régis Le Bris remains hopeful that Dan Ballard and Dennis Cirkin will be able to get some game time before the end of the regular season.

While Romaine Mundle is highly unlikely to play any part in the next two fixtures, the Sunderland head coach remains hopeful that he will be able to feature in the play-off semi finals next month.

“For Romaine, I think the time will be too short for these next two games,” Le Bris said.

“We don’t think he will be ready for those games, but when it comes to the play-offs, we don’t think he will be too far from the team. We will probably have Dennis next week, and then we should have Ballard after the Oxford game. Hopefully, he will be available for the last game (against QPR).”

Le Bris has confirmed that he will name close to his full strength team for the next two games as he looks to try and build some momentum ahead of the play-offs.

“We explained before that this part of the season, it has been a little bit weird," Le Bris said.

"We didn't really have a choice because we had a very small squad and they played so many games with probably fourteen or fifteen players. It was really important to refresh the squad and it was possible because we had 76 points, and we deserved this opportunity. Now with two games to play and one per week, the situation will be different. It will be possible to start with our 'main' XI and I hope that we will find our rhythm, the right flow and dynamic.”

Sunderland youngster impresses Le Bris despite Blackburn Rovers defeat

While Sunderland fell to a third defeat in as many games to Blackburn Rovers on Monday, Le Bris felt there was positives to take in some of the individual performances. The head coach had made seven changes to his team and

Harrison Jones in particular took a big step forward from his previous Stadium of Light appearance against Swansea City, and Le Bris said it demonstrated why the club is patient with its young players.

“I think it's a good example again about young players,” Le Bris said.

“His first [league] start wasn't so impressive, I think he was probably a little bit shy. Today I thought he played really well. Behind the scenes, Harrison works very hard every day and so he deserved another opportunity to play. His dynamic is really positive, he's really connected with the team, and this was a good game for him.”

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