The three Sunderland changes I'd make for Sheffield Wednesday clash and the big one I definitely wouldn't

Sunderland travel to Hillsborough on Friday night looking to bounce back from consecutive Championship defeats to Leeds United and Hull City.

After the loss to Hull City, Régis Le Bris confirmed he'd be weighing up the possibility of making changes as fatigue and form looks to catch up with some of his key performers from the campaign so far.

Here, we look at the three changes we'd be considering for the game, and a couple that we'd be opting against making...

The changes I would make

Romaine Mundle and Chris Mepham in

Le Bris will almost certainly be forced into two changes for the game. Sunderland have not yet confirmed how long Enzo Le Fée and Dan Ballard will absent for but the early indications are that they are facing an extended spell on the sidelines. Sunderland are fortunate in that they have two ready-made replacements in their squad, with Romaine Mundle and Chris Mepham high-calibre options. Mepham has been one of Sunderland's best performers this season, and should be refreshed after a short spell out of the side.

The only dilemma for Le Bris is whether Mundle is ready to start a Championship game, having only played 45 minutes since suffering a hamstring injury in November. The other options right now are minimal, however. Tommy Watson returned to full training this week but won't yet be ready to start a game, and so Le Bris's only real options is probably to start with Mundle and withdraw him in the second half to guard against any fatigue issues. If Watson is not ready to play a part from the bench, then Le Bris could move one of his right wingers over to the other flank or deploy Milan Aleksic in that position. While he's a central midfielder first and foremost, his pace means he's looked a threat when playing there previously.

Another full week of training should then leave Watson well placed to share the load with Mundle for the run in.

Eliezer Mayenda for Chris Rigg

Rigg has been outstanding this season, but injuries to other players in his position have meant that Le Bris hasn't been able to rotate enough either from game to game or within games themselves. As a result, Rigg has started to look as if he is suffering from fatigue and now feels like a good moment to freshen things up a little.

The question therefore is who comes into the side to replace him. The orthodox options would be to bring in Alan Browne or Salis Abdul Samed, with Browne pretty much a direct replacement and Dan Neil simply moving further forward if Samed plays. Both approaches carry risks. Browne has not played any senior competitive football since suffering an injury against Coventry City last November, while Samed has so far struggled to get up to the pace of Championship games when starting. Browne in particular might be best deployed from the bench to begin with, where his experience and energy can help Sunderland in a period of games where they have recently struggled.

It's why Eliezer Mayenda's claims might be too strong to ignore. It's not so much that a 4-4-2 cures all of the current team's ills, as it most certainly doesn't. While that approach can be difficult for other teams to cope with, it does leave them a lot of space in midfield and that has seen Sunderland struggle to control games where they have played with that shape. Especially away from home, it's an approach that carries significant risk and by and large, results and performances have vindicated Le Bris's decision to use it only sparingly. There are some key benefits, however, and particularly when we consider Friday night's game. Mayenda and Wilson Isidor have the pace to cause havoc on the break, and both seem to enjoy having the other to occupy opposition defenders and free up more space.

Mayenda's goal contribution record is mightily impressive when you consider his limited starts in recent months and it feels like a good game in which to bring him back into the XI. Perhaps the main downside of this approach is that it will leave Le Bris with limited proven attacking options on his bench with which he can change the game, but it feels as if it might be needs must for this game. Sunderland need more energy and all of those not currently in the starting XI, Mayenda looks by a distance the best bet to provide it.

The ones I wouldn't

Drop Anthony Patterson

This is no slight on Simon Moore, who performed well in Patterson's absence earlier this season and has been an excellent addition to the group. It has without a doubt been a tough week for Patterson, who scored an own goal in the defeat to Hull City last weekend. Patterson was unable to clear Joe Gelhardt's inswinging corner from his near post, just days after he'd been unable to cut out Joe Rothwell's cross from Leeds United's winner days previous.

Patterson is not in the best of form but last weekend's error only served to underline how consistent he has been for a long period of time - a mistake such as this reminds you how few and far between they have previously been. And the stats bear out the fact that he continues to be a strong goalkeeper at the level. Stats site fbref shows that Patterson is a net positive for Sunderland when it comes to shotstopping, conceding fewer than would be given Sunderland's expected-goals against across the course of the campaign. In fact, he is the eighth best in the division on this metric. His numbers do dip when it comes to crosses stopped, but even then is comfortably midtable and while his long kicking can sometimes be criticised, he's again the eighth best in the division on this front.

Room for improvement? Absolutely. And there's no doubt that Sunderland's habit of conceding soft goals needs to be corrected quickly if the Black Cats are to win promotion whether it be through the top two or via the play-offs. For now, though, I'd be backing Patterson to come through this dip in form. His consistency over a long period of time deserves that backing.

Rotate Patrick Roberts

If Sunderland are to win promotion, then they need more depth out on the right flank. As such, Le Bris is simply going to have to find the right opportunities to introduce Ian Poveda in the hope that he find his full match fitness and form. This game might just be one too soon, however. He's still had relatively few minutes since returning from injury and given that injuries are going to force Le Bris into changes elsewhere, I'd be looking to keep disruption in other positions to a minimum against what will be a good opponent on home turf.

After a break of a week following the trip to Hillsborough, Sunderland play three times in seven days including two games on home turf. Poveda will almost certainly start one of those.

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