Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris may well deploy an unchanged XI against Norwich City on Saturday. Barring one possible change for the Black Cats.
Sunderland are back at the Stadium of Light on Saturday after their successful away outing in Wales last Saturday.
The Black Cats were 2-0 down after just 17 minutes but eventually stunned the Swans in a 3-2 comeback win, with Jobe Bellingham netting a dramatic second half winner.
Regis Le Bris now finds his side in 4th place of the Championship table and have won just two of their last none outings in the league.
The Swansea performance arguably summed up Sunderland’s form over the last several weeks: really poor in spells but really good in others.
There were some very poor individual performances against Swansea and some very good ones too, with Dan Neil shining for Sunderland as he netted his first goal of the season.
One player who didn’t impress though was Dennis Cirkin.
Nick Barnes thinks Regis Le Bris could drop Dennis Cirkin vs Norwich City
Cirkin had surgery on a broken wrist during the November international break and the last game against Swansea City was his first start back.
He’d come off the bench in both games beforehand, but Cirkin was poor against Swansea and was replaced with Luke O’Nien during the second half.
If Cirkin isn’t fully fit for the Norwich game then Le Bris could opt for O’Nien from the off against Norwich City, or so BBC pundit Nick Barnes thinks.
He said on Total Sport: “It’s an interesting debate. And I think as well, Regis can argue that Dennis has given him the excuse from that performance last Saturday.”
Barnes went on to add: “It’s clear Dennis has not been himself the last couple of weeks. He was in and out the side.
“Regis Le Bris tried to explain it away that injury, and the frame that Dennis is, he needed this he needed that, but it was all a bit strange, and then he clearly wasn’t himself at Swansea.”
Regis Le Bris proved fans wrong with Dennis Cirkin call during Swansea
When Le Bris took off Cirkin in the game against Swansea, only to replace him with the right-footed O’Nien, it left Sunderland fans baffled on social media.
But the Black Cats went on to score twice after that; not necessarily because of O’Nien, but the team did look more balanced after the change.
Cirkin remains a key player and he’s been incredible on the whole this season. But if he’s not up to speed just yet, he shouldn’t be risked, and O’Nien is a more-than-worthy replacement in defence.
Sunderland against Norwich City kicks off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.