Régis Le Bris issues exciting Chris Rigg verdict as Sunderland youngster seizes pre-season chance
It has been a positive pre-season so far for Chris Rigg as he thrives in his strongest central midfield position
Régis Le Bris believes Chris Rigg has taken a ‘big, big step’ forward in his development as the youngster impresses in pre-season.
Rigg has benefited from the opportunity to play in a central position with many of Sunderland’s players being phased back into the squad following their World Cup commitments. Rigg scored against York City in the club’s first pre season friendly and was excellent again against Liverpool in Nashville, registering an assist for Enzo Le Fée’s goal.
Competition for places will again be significant this season but Le Bris says Rigg is putting himself in a good position to play a major part across the course of the campaign.
“Yes, definitely he got more mature from the same stage last season to now,” Le Bris said.
“It's a big, big step and we had this conversation at the beginning of the season. He's talented and I think he shows in every moment on the pitch and outside of the pitch the identity of the club, how we want to work. He's always committed, intense, talented as well to show his quality on the pitch. With the game time, young players can learn really quickly. I would say, especially when they are connected with Enzo, connected with Granit, it's a big push to get better. We never know, I hope we'll have big surprises and we never know what will be the limit. We'll see, the platform is very positive.”
Rigg is set to start again on Friday as Sunderland face Leeds United in New Jersey.
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"Yes, it's a shame because it was a good opportunity for him," Le Bris said.
“We didn't solve the visa problem. He will join next week with the squad in Sunderland. For the game time, we'll keep doing what we did, probably we'll push a few players until 60 minutes against Leeds.
“The players from the World Cup will join as well for 30 minutes and we'll mix the squad like this for the first game,” he added.
“We'll have another opportunity against Wrexham, probably to go for 45-45, something like that. It's not one single rule [for every players] but it's more or less the main idea.”