Six changes: Sunderland team news explained as Régis Le Bris names strong side to face Lech Poznan

Habib Diarra makes his first competitive start of the season with Régis Le Bris naming a strong Sunderland side to face Lech Poznan on Thursday evening.

Granit Xhaka also starts at the base of midfield, which means that Jules Ahoka will play further forward alongside Diarra. Nordi Mukiele also starts at right back, with Kevin Danso alongside Luke O'Nien at the heart of defence. Danso did not play in Portugal last week but serves a one-game suspension in the Premier League on Sunday and so is free to continue.

Le Bris has still rotated heavily to protect some players from fatigue, making six changes in total. Malick Fofana and Nilson Angulo return on the wings, while Noah Sadiki also gets a very rare rest on the bench.

As expected, Timur Tutierov leads the line with Brian Brobbey not risked as he continues his recovery from a hamstring injury.

Sunderland XI: Roefs; Mukiele, Danso, O'Nien, Methalie; Xhaka, Ahoka, Diarra; Fofana, Angulo, Tutierov

Subs: Moore, Ogunsuyi, Jenson Jones, Scott, Proctor, Rigg, Alderete, Le Fee, Reinildo, Whittaker, Hume, Sadiki

Sunderland injury latest

Despite being absent again here, Brian Brobbey is expected to return to the squad when Leeds United visit the Stadium of Light on Sunday afternoon.

Thomas Meunier and Wilson Isidor remain major doubts having not yet returned to full training, but did do some individual work on Wednesday. Le Bris is likely to make changes in the second half in Poland as Sunderland look to secure a positive result but also protect the workload of their players.

“So Brian is in a good place, he has trained with the squad the last ten days more or less, so knowing that it was an hamstring injury it's always important to take care of him and not rush the process so we are on the way,” Le Bris said.

“He won't play tomorrow, that's obvious but he should be ready for Leeds. For the others, Omar is fine and from the last game at Bournemouth there are no injuries. We still have Thomas and Wilson and they are in a good place, we'll see if they can be ready soon.

“The question is, we can't train to be fair so I told you a few days ago that playing in Europe is probably the best training session we can have. Against a good team in a nice stadium it's obviously important to manage the game time, the workload, but it's also really positive to play games at that level.

“The next game is always the most important one and so like I said just before, it's important to manage the workload and to get ready for Leeds. It's going to be key and crucial for us but also it's really interesting to play a game at the best level tomorrow in order to get ready for the next fixture. So we try to combine both.”

The Echo’s Europa League coverage is sponsored by Amari Plastics. Covering all of North East England and Cumbria, Amari Plastics launched in 1975 and has built a reputation as the region's leading plastic distributor. During this time, we’ve established strong working relationships with businesses in three main market sectors: sign, display & large format printing, building & construction and industrial & engineering.