Sunderland fans may be fearing the worst after a recent injury blow was revealed for Enzo Le Fee, who’s been a revelation since joining on loan from Roma.
During the January transfer window, Sunderland stunned their promotion rivals by completing a loan signing for Roma midfielder Enzo Le Fee, who the Italian giants forked out close to £20million for just last summer.
It wasn’t working out for him in Italy and so he decided to reunite with Regis Le Bris at the Stadium of Light, who, he worked with for a long time at Lorient previously.
Since, the 25-year-old Le Fee has scored once and assisted once in eight Championship outing for the Black Cats. But in Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat against Hull City last time out, Le Fee was forced off injured at half-time.
It’s since been revealed that Le Fee faces up to two months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, whilst Dan Ballard is also facing another stint on the sidelines after his injury in the game against Hull as well.
Danny Collins questions Regis Le Bris’ man management after Enzo Le Fee injury at Sunderland
Speaking on Total Sport, pundit and former Sunderland defender Danny Collins has questioned whether Le Fee’s injury was inevitable, given the lack of football he had played at Roma in the first half of the season, followed by the run of eight games he’d played since arriving on Wearside.
Collins said: “I think he played, in the last two months prior to coming to Sunderland, one game for Roma. 55, 60 minutes in that game when I looked it up. Then he’s come in, he’s played eight games straight on the bounce. Hasn’t come off. He’s played all 90 minutes.
“Maybe that’s caught up with him a little bit. So that obviously goes back to managing minutes for games for the lads. Again, it’s questions he’s [Le Bris] going to get asked.”
After back-to-back defeats, with Sunderland fans fuming with Le Bris following the defeat against Leeds United prior to Hull, there’s certainly some questions starting to be asked of the Frenchman, as Collins suggests.
There’s more bad news on the injury front for Sunderland
Whilst there’s the likes of Romaine Mundle, Tommy Watson, and also Alan Browne returning to the fold, there’s another injury blow on top of Le Fee and Ballard, which is to Jayden Danns.
Danns arrived at Sunderland with a back injury which parent club Liverpool were unaware of, and it’s since been revealed that Danns may not feature at all for the Black Cats before the end of the season.
Even if he’s fit for the play-offs, should Sunderland qualify, it seems unlikely that Le Bris would entrust a debutant in such high pressure games, especially such a young and inexperienced one too.
January now looks like a missed chance for Sunderland to really bolster and add depth, with injuries inevitable during a long-haul Championship season.
Up next for the Black Cats is a trip to Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.