The 6 Sunderland players who must impress Regis Le Bris this international break

And here we are, standing on the precipice of a second international break in two months. For Sunderland fans, the interruption to the usual domestic schedule could hardly come at a worse time. Their side are performing remarkably and consistently well under Regis Le Bris, and currently top the Championship after nine matches.

But while supporters might be a little irked by a pause in proceedings, for some members of Le Bris’ squad, the break could ultimately provide a real opportunity to catch the boss’ eye. Whether they are jetting off to represent their country or simply working hard on the training pitch, the next fortnight may well be pivotal for several Wearside-based talents.

With that in mind, here are Sunderland six players who could impress Regis Le Bris over the coming international break...

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Aaron Connolly

Connolly was included in Le Bris’ match day squad for the first time against Leeds United on Friday evening, and while he didn’t make it onto the pitch, his new head coach was very clear as to the intended plan for the striker moving forward. Speaking in a post-match press conference, he said: “With Aaron, we didn’t want to rush the process. He was on the bench, and we thought that maybe by being there, he could be useful for the team. But it was too high risk [to bring him on] because he probably needs to play for 45 minutes with the U21s. Then after that, maybe 60 minutes or 65 in the next game.”

How soon those opportunities with the U21s come remains to be seen, but Graeme Murty’s side play Derby County on Monday evening. If he is given a run out, it could be a great chance for the Irishman to prove not only his match fitness, but his effectiveness as a goal-scoring option too.

Dan Ballard

Ballard has been struggling with injury of late, and was not named in either of Le Bris’ squads against Derby County or Leeds United last week. Nevertheless, he has been called up for Northern Ireland, and should he feature for his national team - and return unscathed - then it will represent a decent opportunity for him to remind his head coach just what he is capable of. Before the season started, it would have been almost unimaginable for the defender to have dropped out of Sunderland’s starting XI, but with Chris Mepham and Luke O’Nien both impressing in recent outings, Ballard is no longer guaranteed a spot on Le Bris’ team sheet.

Milan Aleksic

Similarly to Connolly, Aleksic is still yet to feature for Sunderland’s first team. Unlike the Irishman, however, the precocious midfielder will jet off on international duty, representing Serbia U21s against Ukraine next week. Given his recent involvement with the senior set-up, you would expect him to feature in that contest, and if he does, it could provide a perfect opportunity to prove to his club boss just how close he is to earning his first minutes in red and white.

Salis Abdul Samed

Samed is still some way off full fitness, and while Le Bris has name-checked the likes of Connolly, Ballard, and Aleksic as players he expects to be in contention for selection against Hull City on October 20th, there has been no such outward show of optimism about the defensive midfielder. That being said, the next fortnight will still be important for the Sunderland loanee. If he can put the work in and lay some steady foundations, then there is no reason to believe that he can’t prime himself for a prominent role in the relatively near future.

Abdoullah Ba

Slowly making his way back in from the wilderness, Ba was on the bench against both Derby and Leeds last week. The reality of his inclusion, of course, is that it was very probably aided by injury absences elsewhere in Le Bris’ squad, but nevertheless, he has been afforded an opening that fellow outcast Adil Aouchiche has not. Now the key is for Ba to put the graft in behind the scenes to ensure that his head coach is convinced to keep him around the first team picture.

Jewison Bennette

It is an indictment of the predicament that Bennete finds himself in that he has been omitted from Costa Rica’s squad list for the current international break. The 20-year-old is an obvious talent, and one who is looked upon with great excitement in his home country, but after being soundly demoted to Sunderland’s U21s, he is evidently some way off where he would like to be. The flip side, of course, is that he does continue to impress at youth level, and if he keeps on putting in the work and showing flashes of the creativity that we all know he possesses, then there is no reason why he can’t start to climb his way back towards relevancy.