Sunderland writer Phil Smith names player Regis Le Bris must be 'cautious' with amid rotation debate

With four games left to play and a Championship play-off campaign looming, Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris finds himself trying to strike something of a balance over the coming weeks.

On the one hand, the Frenchman will no doubt feel the need to gather some positive momentum as he bids to lead his side to Wembley and back to the Premier League, but on the other, he will be wary of picking up any massively detrimental injuries in a series of matches that will ultimately count for very little between now and then. As such, his approach in recent outings has been to rotate his starting XI quite heavily - but is it the right thing for him to do ahead of such a crucial period of the Black Cats’ promotion push?

Should Sunderland keep rotating their starting XI?

Reflecting on Le Bris’ recent rotation on the latest edition of On The Whistle, the Sunderland Echo’s chief writer Phil Smith said: “I think this is a big debate for Le Bris. My personal feeling is that I think these Easter fixtures [against Bristol City and Blackburn Rovers] - because it's sort of two games out of four games and because you've got players who are still feeling their way back from injury - I expect, and I don't really have a problem with, Le Bris taking a similar approach in terms of rotating.

“In my personal opinion I would love to see Dan Neil get a rest in at least one of those games. I think his form has understandably dipped because of the workload that he's had. I don't think his last few performances have been at his best level and so he's a player who I would like to see get a rest because I think he potentially needs one. I think hopefully Jobe coming back in over the Easter weekend and Salis being back allows Le Bris to do that.

“I don't want to see Enzo Le Fée risked because in terms of two 90 minutes in four days, I think that's way too big of a risk to take at this stage of the season. So I'm comfortable, maybe, if he gets half an hour in one game and an hour in another. I think that would be a really sensible approach.

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“So I do think that while I've raised some concerns with the performance level and definitely the attacking play, I don't have an issue with what Le Bris is doing. I think it's the right thing for me. You've got two games there at the end of the season, Oxford away and QPR. There's a week in between the fixtures and a chance for players to train well to get some rest and recovery as well.

“I think those two games, you would like to see pretty much the team that you're going to play in the play-offs because I think that then gives you an opportunity to reset, to get that familiarity back hopefully build a bit of confidence. So I think the last couple of games of the season I really want to see Sunderland just going at it with the 100% strongest team that you can possibly name. If you want to rotate from the bench then that's fair but I think the next couple of games I do think realistically we are going to see more rotation. Maybe that'll lead to some more disjointed performances but I do think that's the right approach. I think there's too many players at the moment that you can't afford to take too many risks with.

“I do agree that you need to build some momentum, and I think you don't want too much disruption to the team at the back end of the season, but I do think the Easter weekend we need to be fairly pragmatic. I think there are players who need a rest and I think we have got to keep being cautious with Le Fée, as frustrating as it will be, because we're all desperate to see him on the pitch for 90 minutes wherever possible - and rightly so because he's so good - but we don't want to see someone taking too many risks.”

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