Régis Le Bris names the Sunderland player now in contention to return against Nottingham Forest
Sunderland resume their Premier League campaign against Nottingham Forest this weekend
Régis Le Bris has confirmed that Luke O’Nien is now back in contention for selection at Sunderland.
O’Nien is fully training with the squad after suffering a dislocated shoulder in the early stages of the play-off final win over Sheffield United at Wembley, and is contention to make the squad when the Black Cats travel to Nottingham Forest this weekend.
There is now a vacancy within the squad, with Reinildo beginning a three-game suspension after being dismissed for violent conduct last weekend. Le Bris is confident that he has the options in his squad to cover Reinildo’s absence, with the head coach weighing up whether to bring Arthur Masuaku in or recall Dan Ballard and move another player across.
“Yeah, Luke is now connected with the the squad fully, so he's an option now,” Le Bris said.
“Lucha [Geertruida] as well has played centre back, right back, left back, so he's an option. We have Arthur as well, so I think for the back line, we have different options.
“I think when we built the the squad with the recruitment structure, the sporting direction, we thought about different options and I think we have a player to cover this position [Arthur] and we have versatility as well to to create other options depending on the scenario, the opponent, the dynamic of the squad and so on.”
Dennis Cirkin, Leo Hjelde, Aji Alese and Romaine Mundle all remain sidelined with injuries.
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Nottingham Forest team news update ahead of Sunderland clash
Nottingham Forest have been handed a new injury concern ahead of Sunderland’s trip to the City Ground on Saturday.
Midfield Douglas Luiz, who signed on loan from Juventus this summer, was withdrawn at half time as Nottingham Forest drew 2-2 with Real Betis in their first Europa League game on Wednesday night. Nikola Milenković was also withdrawn late in the game with an injury concern, but boss Ange Postecoglou subsequently confirmed that the substitution was due to cramp.
Postecoglou added that Luiz has not suffered a serious injury, but he would appear to be an early doubt for Saturday’s game.
“Douglas Luiz had a bit of hamstring soreness at half-time, so we took him off as a precaution. They were very taxing conditions for the lads. We’re going to have to do some really strong recovery with them because we’ve got a game on Saturday. Aside from those two, I don’t think there’s anyone who has come out with anything too significant.”
Defender Murillo is also a doubt for Saturday’s game, having missed the last two fixtures with an injury. Speaking ahead of the Real Betis game, Postecoglou said: “The only one that misses out is Murillo again. He trained on Monday but he's still not comfortable so I've left him back home to do some work."
Your next Sunderland read: Everything Régis Le Bris said about Nottingham Forest clash