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Enzo Le Fee & Dan Neil state of play as Regis Le Bris confirms Sunderland stance

REGIS Le Bris has hinted that Enzo Le Fee might have to settle for a place on the bench at the start of the season for Sunderland.

But he insists the Frenchman could very quickly become a starting regular again.

And Sunderland's head coach also says Dan Neil "absolutely" remains part of his plans, despite the influx of midfielders during the summer transfer window.

Le Fee and Neil were both notable omissions from the Sunderland side that travelled to Germany to face Augsburg on Saturday, with Le Bris naming what appears to be his strongest XI for the first friendly of the weekend.

The duo then both played for a second Sunderland XI in Sunday's 3-0 home defeat to Rayo Vallecano.

Le Fee was also a substitute for Sunderland in last week's friendly against Betis, coming off the bench for the final half an hour.

"We'll have two or three players like Enzo, really close to the starting XI but at the same time we have to make a choice because we can only play with 11 players," explained Le Bris, who selected a midfield trio of Granit Xhaka, Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra at Augsburg.

"We need to build starters and finishes. Our midfielders will have this opportunity, that's really clear.

"It's the same for our strikers. It's positive and we will try to find this competition in every position before the end of the transfer window."

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When it was put to Le Bris that Le Fee starting the campaign as a "finisher" might be deemed something of a surprise given his impact and importance last season after his January arrival, Sunderland's head coach said: "At the minute but the season can change so quickly, so you can start the first game in this position, we'll see if that's the case against West Ham, we'll decide this week.

"But if it's the case, maybe after one game or two or three it will change because the dynamic of the season is always different and we need 15 or 16 players at the best level."

Neil, meanwhile, led Sunderland to promotion as captain but appears to have been pushed down the pecking order after the arrival of four midfielders this summer. There also remains uncertainty surrounding the 23-year-old's future, given he's now moved into the last year of his contract.

Asked whether there was any update on Neil's contract situation, Le Bris said on Sunday: "Not at the minute".

The head coach is, however, adamant that Neil remains very much part of his plans.

"Absolutely," he said.

"In Dan's position we have a strong and experienced player [Xhaka] and he will massively help the squad thanks to his level but also leadership and experience.

"For a player like Dan and others who played in the Championship last season, the gap to the Premier League is really important so if you can learn behind a player like Granit then you can learn quickly and this gap can be reduced really quickly.

"He will have opportunities if he works well."

It must have been a challenging summer for Neil, to go from captain at Wembley to potentially losing his place in the side.

But Le Bris said: "He's done well so far.

"He's a good professional and he understands the situation. For me it's more an opportunity than a problem and if you think like that it's a positive."

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