Régis Le Bris confirms Romaine Mundle injury latest ahead of Sunderland's second leg against Coventry City

Régis Le Bris has confirmed that Romaine Mundle will return to the Sunderland squad for the second leg of the Championship play-off semi final against Coventry City tomorrow night.

The Sunderland head coach has confirmed that the winger is not in contention to start after a spell on the sidelines with a hamstring issue, but that he is ready to feature as an impact substitute if required. There was less positive news on Aji Alese who is not available despite making quicker than expected progress from a serious injury, though if Sunderland were to make it to the final then he should be fit to play a part.

“Romaine is available,” Le Bris said.

“With Aji we will have to wait a little later, maybe one more week. With Romaine he is ready to play maybe ten, 15, 20, 25 minutes. We know that he can’t start at the minute, it is not possible, but he is a strong option to have on the bench.”

While Sunderland have this season taken a very cautious approach with Patrick Roberts when it comes to back-to-back fixtures given his previous hamstring issues, Le Bris strongly hinted ahead of this game that he was ready to start and go the distance if required.

“This season, Patrick has shown great consistency,” Le Bris said.

“That wasn’t really the case last season or maybe the season before. He is in a good place and is a really strong team-mate. He showed again at Coventry how important he was in the out-of-possession phase. He is a winger, really talented and technical, but he was also a strong team-mate out of possession for us. Patrick was really important for us, and I think he will be ready to start tomorrow.”

Frank Lampard’s pre-match message to his Coventry City players

Coventry City boss Frank Lampard has been speaking ahead of the second leg, urging his players to trust themselves as they bid to turn around the tie.

"The players have to understand how we've got to where we have," Lampard said.

"From being around 17th at Christmas, looking a long way from the play-offs, the reason we've got to where we are is because of the way we play, because of what they do individually within that collective.

"You saw the way we want to play,” he added.

“Sunderland came and respected us and got their result. They need to keep doing what they are doing and trust themselves. It is a game of football, forget the talk and environment. It is a game to play without the errors, and with more intent."

"Only the goals [were negative]. The rest of the game was ours to a big degree, we played pretty well. We had a lot of the ball, created chances. They defended well, but the responsibility is on us to have a little bit more intent, more at the top end of the pitch."

Your next Sunderland read: Everything Régis Le Bris said in his pre-match press conference