The Sunderland head coach could have a big decision to make at centre back this weekend depending on fitness

Régis Le Bris is hopeful that Sunderland have started to turn a corner with the defensive issues that plagued their opening weeks of the Premier League campaign.

Due to form, fitness and suspension the Black Cats boss has had to regularly change his partnerships at the heart of defence and may have to do so again at Coventry City with Nordi Mukiele a doubt due to a throat injury picked up in the second half of the 0-0 draw with Leeds United.

To that end, the Black Cats boss was relieved to see Omar Alderete’s much improved performances both in that game against Leeds and particularly in the win over Brentford on Wednesday night. Alderete came off after an hour in case he is needed for Saturday’s crunch fixture and after a very difficult start to the season, Le Bris was relieved to see him back to somewhere near his best.

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Kevin Danso also made a good return from suspension against Brentford, while Luke O’Nien has been in very good form of late. Le Bris admits the position was a major issue in the early weeks of the season and is encouraged by the recent steps forward.

“I was happy with Omar,” Le Bris said.

“Yeah, because we spoke about the style of play. We try to press hard. I think it's more or less the trend in the Premier League and modern football. You press hard, it means that the opponent will go long around your centre-backs. If your centre-backs are not strong, consistent, able to manage 1v1s, you're over. Let's speak about Bournemouth, for example. We didn't start the game. Just in 15 minutes, the game was over just because of that.

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“It's a question of momentum. I think we are humans. They can't be at their top consistently, so you need three or four centre-backs. We had a short spell without efficient centre-backs and now Kevin is getting better, I think. Nordi was good. Luke is also in a really good place and Omar yesterday...Thank you, Omar! I like this version.”

Sunderland’s defensive options have also been bolstered by the return of Thomas Meunier, who played half an hour in the Brentford win.

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