Sunderland and Régis Le Bris handed big selection boost for Coventry City and Millwall games

Sunderland and Régis Le Bris have been handed a massive selection boost after passing the second yellow card amnesty of the Championship campaign unscathed.

Tuesday night's clash was Sunderland's 37th league fixture of the season, at which point players no longer incur a suspension for picking up ten yellow cards. Jobe Bellingham has been on nine yellows for three games heading into Preston North End's visit, but was able to avoid any further yellows.

That means he'll be available to face Coventry City this weekend as well as the visit of Alex Neil's Millwall to the Stadium of Light after the upcoming international break. Trai Hume and Wilson Isidor had both been on eight yellows for a period of time coming into the Preston game, with Hume picking up another yellow in the first half.

The suspension threshold now moves, with players picking up a three-game ban if they pick up 15 yellow cards before the end of the campaign.

Why Régis Le Bris thinks passing the amnesty could be huge for Sunderland and Jobe Bellingham

Le Bris admitted ahead of Cardiff City's visit to the Stadium of Light last weekend that the threat of suspension was probably having a small impact on Bellingham's performances.

"It is probably impacting him a little bit," Le Bris said last week.

"It's part of the experience. He's probably less intense in the duels. He likes to be dominant and to show his power, and he can't right now. At the same time, it's a good part of the process. We spoke about it with Trai earlier in the season, at times he was probably a little bit too aggressive just in terms of the number of yellow cards [he had], and then he played in a little bit of a different way."

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