The four interesting things we've noticed from Sunderland's return to training as Régis Le Bris gets to work

Sunderland players returned for pre-season on Monday, and The Echo was given a sneak peek of their preparations for the new season ahead of Régis Le Bris' first official press conference.

Here's what we've noticed about how the squad shaping is up for the new season...

The injury picture is very promising for Régis Le Bris

Sunderland's new head coach is working with a strong group to begin the pre-season programme, with only a couple of injury absentees. Jenson Seelt and Niall Huggins remain sidelined and will be for a number of months as they recover from serious knee injuries, but Le Bris otherwise has a pretty clean bill of health as he starts out on his work.

Dan Neil is in full training after his season came to a premature end to an ankle injury, while Nazariy Rusyn is also back after his calf troubles towards the end of the 2023/24 campaign. Dennis Cirkin is also in full training after his injury-hit season last time out, with Jay Matete and Elliot Embleton also back after injuries brought a premature end to their loan spells at Oxford United and Derby County last season.

Youngsters given opportunity to shine

A number of Sunderland's academy products have been given the chance to impress Régis Le Bris during the early stages of the pre-season programme. Winger Tommy Watson is training with the main group after his superb end to the Premier League 2 campaign with the U21s, alongside a number of his team-mates from that group. Attacking midfielder Caden Kelly was a key part of that team who reached the play-off final before falling to an unfortunate defeat against West Ham United, and is training with the seniors after the club triggered a year-long extension to his deal.

Ukrainian forward Timur Tuterov is also with the senior group, while 17-year old Matty Young is working with the senior goalkeepers as expected.

Loanees back in action

Le Bris is also casting eye of the club's returning loanees from last season, who have all returned to pre-season training on time in a bid to force their way into the team this season. Nectar Triantis is back from his loan at Hibernian, Jewison Bennette from his loan at FC Aris in Greece. Central defender Joe Anderson is also back training with the group after his loan with League One club Shrewsbury Town. All three will likely be given a chance to impress in the club's early pre-season fixtures, before a decision is made on their short and long-term future later in the summer.

Backroom staff work in progress

In the first couple of days, Le Bris has mostly taken a watching brief with Mike Dodds and Michael Proctor leading the sessions. That will change in the coming days and weeks, Le Bris addressed the squad on Wednesday morning to explain his playing style and will take a very hands-on approach to implement that as the season nears. It's understood that Le Bris will be giving the choice of who to add to his staff in the coming weeks, with at least one addition planned at the end of an interview process. Le Bris made clear that he was happy to work with the current staff, who'll stay on regardless, and assess the skills he needs to add before making any final decisions.