As Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris is rapidly discovering, the Championship season is a long, hard slog.
And while the Black Cats boss has kept his team fairly settled so far – ten Sunderland players have started at least six of their eight second-tier matches in 2024/25 – Le Bris knows that he will have to shuffle his pack later down the line.
Injury issues and the relentless nature of the schedule means that the depth of Sunderland’s squad is likely to be tested in the coming weeks and months.
But Le Bris – his Sunderland top of the table following the midweek win over Derby County – is confident that the young talents and the fringe players at his disposal can, and will, step up when the opportunity arises to stake their claim.
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris thrilled with squad depth
“The core of the group is very interesting,” Le Bris says, speaking at a press-conference ahead of Friday’s hosting of Leeds United. “Because the players are very close.
“At the moment, because the team is performing very well, all the players know they need to wait for their opportunity. But when this opportunity arrives – and it will arrive, for sure, because the [season] is so long – they need to be ready.
“So the training sessions are very interesting because we can feel this intensity and this intent in the player’s mind. They know that, when an option is open, I trust them.”
Le Bris, who has led Sunderland to six wins from eight so far, highlights the impact made by both Tom Watson and Romaine Mundle.
Both players, he feels, can act as inspirations to the others who are hoping to force their way into the Frenchman’s first-team plans in the near future.
Le Bris on why Romaine Mundle and Tom Watson can be Sunderland inspiration
Watson, the Easington-born 18-year-old, is another graduate of Sunderland’s prosperous academy.
Hoping to follow in the footsteps of his fellow homegrown talent – Chris Rigg and Dan Neil headline an ‘amazing’ Sunderland midfield – Watson has come off the bench in each of the last two Championship matches.
As for Mundle, the former Tottenham Hotspur starlet has calmed the fears of those who felt Jack Clarke’s sale to Ipswich Town would consign Sunderland to another mid-table finish.
Mundle, shining in the left-wing role that Clarke made his own, is the club’s top scorer in league action with three goals to his name.
“It was the case with Tommy and with Romaine after Jack Clarke [left] and so on,” Le Bris adds when discussing the prospect of more second-string players nailing down a first-team role.
“So, at the minute, we can feel this whole environment in the team and it’s very useful for performance.”
Leeds United travel to the Stadium of Light on Friday knowing that a win can take them level with Le Bris’ side at the top of the table. And Leeds boss Daniel Farke is certainly not taking Sunderland lightly.
Speaking to the media himself, a man who won secured promotion twice with Norwich City highlighted the quality of the Black Cats’ forward players and their threat in transition.
New striker Wilson Isidor has earned Le Bris’ admiration with goals in successive Sunderland appearances.