Regis Le Bris must be feeling like the luckiest manager in the Championship right now, blessed with brilliant talent not only in the Sunderland first-team, but also emerging in the Under-21s, too.
Sunderland have maintained a strong position all season and still remain in the fight for automatic promotion come the end of the campaign.
Granted, Regis Le Bris’ men will have to do something special to leapfrog both Burnley and Sheffield United in the Championship table if they are to join champions-elect Leeds United in securing promotion to the Premier League.
But, the Sunderland manager may well have some surprises up his sleeve, with more and more players making their way back from injury, including one star who has been ‘frustrated’ in his first six months on Wearside, but is seemingly ready to explode for the first-team now.
Ahmed Abdullahi impresses for Sunderland Under-21s
Just last week, Ahmed Abdullahi made his debut for Sunderland’s Under-21s, and gave a really strong impression of himself with a goal to cap off a fine display.
Now, the 20-year-old, who was one of many Sunderland summer signings we’ve had to wait to see due to injury, has excelled himself with his latest performance.
Taking on Huddersfield Town in the Premier League Cup on Tuesday night, Sunderland waltzed to a 7-0 victory to progress to the next round, and it was Ahmed Abdullahi who was the hero with a brilliant hattrick.
The Black Cats absolutely dominated the game from start to finish, with Abdullahi getting things rolling after just nine minutes from the penalty spot. He added his second on 26 minutes, before knocking in his third on the hour-mark.
With that kind of showing, surely it can’t be long before Le Bris considers throwing Abdullahi into the first-team, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the bench by the weekend.
Regis Le Bris still has so much quality left to introduce for Sunderland
The plan was always to get Abdullahi up to speed before integrating him into the senior team at some point this season, and he’s one of many players Le Bris can begin to lean on as the injury worries at Sunderland become a distant memory.
Both Tommy Watson and Romaine Mundle are back in training this week, which offers Le Bris so much more of a threat down the wings, while Alan Browne also got a taste of action for the Under-21s last night, too.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  LeedsLeeds | 32 | 20 | 9 | 3 | 66 | 19 | 47 | 69 |
| 2 |  Sheff UtdSheffield Utd | 31 | 20 | 6 | 5 | 43 | 22 | 21 | 64 |
| 3 |  BurnleyBurnley | 31 | 16 | 13 | 2 | 37 | 9 | 28 | 61 |
| 4 |  SunderlandSunderland | 31 | 16 | 11 | 4 | 47 | 28 | 19 | 59 |
| 5 |  West BromWest Brom | 31 | 11 | 14 | 6 | 41 | 28 | 13 | 47 |
| 6 |  BlackburnBlackburn | 31 | 13 | 6 | 12 | 35 | 31 | 4 | 45 |
These returnees, plus Jenson Seelt making a comeback, and Ian Poveda now getting minutes in the first-team, and new signing Jayden Danns not far away either, make Sunderland a really interesting prospect for the rest of the season.
They’ve done a magnificent job so far this season with the players they have got, but with more coming back, there’s no reason why the Black Cats can’t reach a new level and really turn the screw on the teams above them in the table.