Sunderland were knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties against Huddersfield Town
Régis Le Bris has confirmed that Dan Ballard will miss Saturday’s visit of Brentford with a groin injury.
The Sunderland head coach has confirmed that Ballard is set to be absent for a period of around three weeks. The upcoming international break means that he will not miss many Premier League fixtures, and could even be in contention to face Crystal Palace in mid September.
Le Bris also confirmed that Niall Huggins is a new injury concern after being substituted at half time in Sunderland’s penalty shootout defeat to Huddersfield Town on Tuesday night.
“We had the diagnosis yesterday, so probably around three weeks for Dan,” Le Bris said.
“Niall had an injury which is why he came off, he felt some discomfort in his groin.”
Régis Le Bris reacts to Sunderland’s Carabao Cup exit
Sunderland struggled in the first half against Huddersfield Town, falling behind to a stunning volley from Leo Castledine. The Black Cats didn’t have a shot on target but a switch from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3 at the break sparked an improvement, with Marc Guiu levelling the scores late on.
A miss from Milan Aleksic in sudden death secured the win for the League One side, who had made ten changes from the game. Despite the disappointing result, Le Bris insisted that that he was pleased with the effort of his players and that they had not done their chances of getting Premier League minutes harm.
“Yeah, a bit disappointed, because we always want to win and it wasn't the case at the end.” Le Bris said.
“The main purpose of the evening was to win and we failed. It's not the only learning, because I think we struggled a bit during the first half. We need to test different options. On the pitch we had many new players, so we have to experience in real conditions, as was the case this evening. If it doesn't work, try another option. I think during the second half it was much better. I think it's positive for the future, especially for Saturday.
“Probably the formation change was important, because we tested two forwards during the first half and it was tough, probably because of the shape and the low block,” he added.
“In the second half, with Wilson on the left, Mark and Pat on the right, we tried the 4-3-3 and it worked well.
“I think the energy was positive. Sometimes you can struggle, but you feel that they try. Obviously, the starting line-up was new, so you can't just decide and it works perfectly from scratch.It doesn't work like that. I think Huddersfield played with desire and intensity. They were well-organised and scored a fantastic goal.It was a good context for the development of the squad. At the end, if you try and work well but the output is negative, it doesn't mean you won't be selected for the next game.”
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