Sunderland’s head coach has issued an injury update ahead of the clash against Spurs this weekend
Régis Le Bris has admitted that Romaine Mundle and Jocelin Ta Bi are likely to miss the rest of the campaign due to injury.
Mundle and Ta Bi required surgery on hamstring and ankle injuries respectively and the Sunderland head coach had admitted that he doesn't expect either back in training until the very end of the campaign. Most likely, the pair will not be risked in competitive action and will instead focus on being fully fit for the start of the pre-season campaign.
Le Bris did confirm, however, that he remains hopeful Bertrand Traoré can return before the end of the campaign to play some part in Sunderland's run-in.
"Probably for Jocelin and Romaine, it will be at the end of the season," Le Bris said.
"It might be the last week, so we won't take risks to play with them if they are not ready. Probably it will be more to prepare them properly to be ready for the pre-season, in good shape. For Bertrand, it might be a bit earlier."
Le Bris generally has a much improved injury picture at Sunderland following the three-week break from fixtures, with Robin Roefs now ready to return. Dan Ballard and Nilson Angulo remain sidelined but are now very close to a return with Reinildo, Enzo Le Fée and Nordi Mukiele in contention to return to the starting XI against Spurs on Sunday.
Régis Le Bris praises Chris Rigg for development at Sunderland
Chris Rigg is expected to retain his place in the starting XI on Sunday after impressing in the Tyne-Wear derby win over Newcastle, and Le Bris has praised the midfielder’s resilience after struggling for regular game time through the opening months of the season.
“Yeah, he's still young,” Le Bris said.
“He's really young, but he showed exactly what we are talking about. Great character, consistency, resilience. When it's hard, not when it's easy or you are just at the right level, when it's hard. I think he's a great symbol of what we want to develop here. The league is so demanding that you have to have a strong team with strong togetherness, but also great characters on the pitch. He's one of these players.”
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