Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris revealed why Jobe Bellingham was missing during Tuesday evening’s 0-0 draw against Norwich.
Sunderland drew 0-0 at Norwich on Tuesday evening as Regis Le Bris’ side submitted a very flat display.
Le Bris made four changes to his starting XI from the 1-0 win over West Brom, with the Black Cats boss opting for Eliezer Mayenda, Tommy Watson, Milan Aleksic and Leo Hjelde to start in place of Wilson Isidor, Patrick Roberts, Romaine Mundle and Jobe Bellingham.
Aleksic failed to impress and was withdrawn in the second-half, with Sunderland supporters slamming his “mediocre” outing.
Bellingham’s presence was sorely missed against Norwich as Sunderland failed to assert any dominance over the clash, and Le Bris revealed a crucial injury update regarding the missing Black Cats star.
Regis Le Bris shares Jobe Bellingham injury update
Dan Neil, Chris Rigg and Alan Browne comprised Sunderland’s midfield trio in Bellingham’s absence and his physicality was a monumental miss for the Black Cats.
Bellingham has been linked with Borussia Dortmund, and it is clear to see why after his stellar 36-start campaign this term, in which he has notched seven goal contributions so far.
| Key statistic | Jobe Bellingham this season |
| Games played | 36 |
| Goals | 4 |
| Assists | 3 |
| Yellow cards | 10 |
| Minutes played | 3,208 |
With Sunderland’s play-off fate made mathematically secure, Le Bris confirmed his absence from the squad at Carrow Road was a precautionary matter, ahead of the season’s looming business end.
Le Bris told SAFC.com: “He’s (Bellingham) ok. It’s not a serious injury. Although he wants to play every game, today was an opportunity for him to refresh. We’re able to manage the squad to keep everyone in their best shape, and that was the decision today.”
Sunderland must improve after bore draw vs Norwich
Sunderland were particularly poor in the midfield against Norwich and seemingly couldn’t string two passes together during the opening 45 minutes, receiving only 36% of the ball throughout the first half.
Le Bris admitted after the game: “We expected a strong team in possession with plenty of threats. We didn’t press well enough early on, and that was probably the main issue in the first 30 minutes.
“We had some good spells, but at times, we were sloppy and didn’t retain possession well.”
Bellingham’s persistent efforts out of possession have played a pivotal role in Sunderland’s promotion push this season and were sorely missed at Carrow Road.
Browne was returned to his favoured central-midfield role, after impressing as a makeshift full-back against Millwall, but failed to reach the levels that the former Birmingham youngster has exhibited so often this season.
Thankfully Le Bris quelled supporters’ fears that Bellingham would be joining Mundle on the injury list, but given Sunderland’s top-six certainty, the head coach may opt to bed Bellingham back in slowly rather than thrusting him into the starting XI against Swansea on Saturday afternoon.