Granit Xhaka made his eagerly-awaited return from an ankle injury at the Stadium of Light on Sunday
Sunderland will monitor Granit Xhaka closely this week to assess whether the influential midfielder is able to return to the starting XI at Bournemouth.
The Black Cats are eager to maximise Xhaka’s involvement as they bid to quickly turn around a dip in their Premier League form, but are equally wary of any further setbacks. Régis Le Bris said after the 3-1 defeat to Fulham that Xhaka’s 20-minute cameo had been the maximum involvement possible after one week back in training, and that his ankle would be assessed this week to determine the extent of his involvement this weekend.
While Sunderland hope he will be able to take his place in the starting XI, it is at this stage not a sure thing.
“Today this was the maximum, we'll manage his game time progressively,” Le Bris said.
“It's a condition we have to accept. We'll have to see the reaction this week [to today] and if he's ok, it might be the case [that he can start] the next fixture.”
Le Bris admitted after the Fulham defeat that his side are struggling in possession at the moment, criticising a ‘sloppy’ first-half display. The head coach believes Xhaka’s return can offer a significant boost both in and out of possession.
“We have his leadership, but we have his qualities as a footballer as well,” Le Bris said.
“I think he fits really well in this position. He gives us a bit more confidence with the ball. When we can settle this part of the game properly, we can express our qualities. We were too sloppy during the first half to impose our ideas. It was a more chaotic flow rather than something really controlled.
“With Granit, we have this opportunity, so less energy spent to recover the ball after a bad pass, for example. It gives us this consistency.”
Sunderland are hopeful that Bertrand Traoré will be able to resume training this week, potentially leading to some involvement in a busy week of fixtures. Le Bris is facing some potentially major issues elsewhere however, with Brian Brobbey, Romaine Mundle, Jocelin Ta Bi and Nordi Mukiele all picking up knocks in the Fulham defeat. Reinildo had already been ruled out for three to four weeks ahead of the game, with Dennis Cirkin also absent due to injury - though Le Bris has said that is a minor issue.
Le Bris identifies key factors in Sunderland’s dip in form
The Fulham defeat was Sunderland’s third in a row in the Premier League.
“In the Premier League, it's not unusual for us and for every team in the league,” Le Bris said.
“You can be in the top six and you can have a long sequence of poor results. I think we are now in this part of the journey. Resilience, togetherness, consistency, standards. It's always the same values we need and we won't give up. Obviously it's a bit harder, but the journey is always defined like that by key moments. They were negative today - we'll try to find a way to change the situation.
“We express less quality with the ball at the moment,” Le Bris added.
“We are a bit less dominant against direct play as well for the second balls.
“The momentum can shift sometimes just with one situation because both teams are ready to impose their ideas after those moments. Today we were just okay, not dominant, especially at home. We left an opportunity for the opponent to express their qualities.”
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