Régis Le Bris quashes Sunderland injury concern in team news update for Manchester United
Sunderland are back in action this weekend at Old Trafford
Régis Le Bris has confirmed that Sunderland have no new injury concerns ahead of their trip to Manchester United this weekend.
There had been some speculation this week that Nordi Mukiele was an injury doubt for the game at Old Trafford, but Le Bris said he expected the French defender to be eligible for selection. Sunderland still have a number of longer-term injuries and though they are all making solid progress, Le Bris is not expecting anyone back immediately after the international break.
Reinildo remains absent due to suspension, and has two games left to serve.
“Nordi is fine, he’s OK,” Le Bris said.
“We have no new injuries. With Romaine and Dennis, there is no definite date for their return to play. We think it will probably be a month, maybe a month and a half. With Leo and Aji it is similar. Leo is back running, with Aji there was a very small injury so he took a little step back. Probably one month for each.”
While Manchester United come into the game in indifferent form, Le Bris insists his team won’t be taking the game lightly.
“Being at Old Trafford demands strong personality and strong character,” he said.
“I still believe that we'll need to upgrade our performance to be competitive in Manchester. They are strong, create many chances from everywhere, direct play in behind, set pieces, with talented players. Now it’s just a question of click, confidence, circumstances, scenario. So for us the only thing we can control is our way of playing, the way we want to play this game, to face this challenge, being aware that it will be tough.”
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Manchester United team news update ahead of Sunderland clash
Amad is set to face his Sunderland this weekend after Manchester United confirmed that he has now returned to training.
The former Sunderland loanee was absent as Ruben Amorim's side fell to a 3-1 defeat at Brentford last weekend, with the head coach confirming in his pre-match press conference that the 23-year-old had been given compassionate leave due to a bereavement in his family. In a statement on Wednesday, the club confirmed that he was now back in training and is as such expected to be available for this weekend's game at Old Trafford.
He will be joined in the squad by experienced midfielder Casemiro, who is available again after serving a one-match suspension for picking up a red card in the 2-1 win over Chelsea a week previous. Full back Tyrell Malacia has also returned to senior training this week, and could be in contention to make his first appearance of the campaign. Malacia was not part of the senior group in pre season having been expected to depart the club in the summer transfer window, but is now under consideration for selection by Amorim. As expected, Noussair Mazraoui and Lisandro Martinez are not in full training. Mazraoui is expected to be absent until after the international break while Martinez is recovering from a long-term knee injury.