Sunderland have several players on international duty right now.
Among those are Northern Ireland duo Dan Ballard and Trai Hume, who got off to a winning start in the Nations League on Thursday.
Hume captained Northern Ireland to a 2-0 win vs Luxembourg, with Northern Irish media hailing Hume and Ballard for their performances.
Elsewhere, Leo Hjelde, Alan Browne, Chris Mepham, and Milan Aleksic are all on international duty with their respective nations (Hjelde with Norway U21s).
There’s also England youth call-ups for Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg, with fellow academy players Rhys Walsh and Finn Geragusian earning call ups for the youth teams of Northern Ireland and Armenia respectively.
How to watch Sunderland players in action during international break
Hume and Ballard next play Bulgaria at the Stadion Hirsto Botev in Plovdiv, and the game will be streamed live on Virgin Media Player in Ireland and on ITVX in the UK.
Browne’s Republic of Ireland play England on Friday night, with that game being broadcast live on ITV1, whilst their following game vs Greece will be shown on RTE 2 in Ireland and on Viaplay Sports 1.
Mepham and Wales play in games against Turkey and Montenegro; both games will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.
Aleksic and Serbia got underway on Thursday night and drew 0-0 with Spain, though Aleksic was an unused substitute.
Serbia’s next game vs Denmark on Saturday will be shown live on ITV4.
Bellingham’s England U20s have games against Turkey and Romania, and Rigg’s England U17s play Israel and Germany, though none of the mentioned games will be shown on terrestrial TV.
Regis Le Bris will have one hope for Sunderland players on international duty
Whilst Sunderland and Regis Le Bris will be pleased to see his players getting international recognition, he may also be fearful of players picking up injuries.
There’s also the fact that players may quickly tire across the season is they’re constantly playing international football during the breaks, and travelling long distances for games too.
A key injury to in the side could potentially derail what’s been a very impressive start to the new season.
But Sunderland have bolstered well this summer and Le Bris may be confident in the depth he now has in his first-team, with some very tough fixtures coming up in September and October.
Sunderland travel to Plymouth Argyle next weekend.