Sunderland have enjoyed a perfect start to the new Championship campaign.
The Black Cats have been able to start a near full-strength side in their opening two fixtures, with Dan Ballard and Alan Browne their only absentees against Sheffield Wednesday.
Browne is expected to return to action as Sunderland host Burnley this weekend, but Ballard is set to be sidelined for a little longer.
The former Arsenal defender is a huge loss given his impact on the team last season, but Aji Alese has proven to be an excellent replacement.
However, Sunderland’s defeat against Preston North End in the Carabao Cup showed their lack of squad depth in central defence, with Nectarios Triantis and Leo Hjelde starting.
The latter looked particularly disappointing, while Triantis looked slightly better. It still seemed very apparent that the Black Cats’ back-up options were considerably far behind their starting centre-backs in terms of quality.
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Nectarios Triantis’ injury is worrying for Sunderland
There hasn’t been much talk of Sunderland bringing in a new centre-back before next week’s deadline, however an injury in the U21s’ draw with Newcastle United last night should really make them reconsider.
Triantis was forced off after half an hour with a contact injury, and while expected not to be anything serious, it could potentially leave Regis Le Bris with even fewer options on the bench.
If the Australian was set for a spell on the sidelines, it would mean Hjelde, Zac Johnson and Joe Anderson were his back-up selections – all of whom would surely not be trusted to play in the Championship now.
The Black Cats’ defence is often plagued with injuries
Given Alese’s injury record, it is extremely worrying for Le Bris and one injury to the former West Ham man could leave Sunderland’s backline looking very frail.
If Kyril Louis-Dreyfus was intending on ending his transfer business when they finally sign Alexandre Mendy, then he should definitely think again.
Sunderland have a very busy schedule approaching them and are well known for picking up injuries in their backline, so anything of the such could make a real dent in their play-off hopes.
The Black Cats need an experienced centre-back to sit on the bench and fill in where needed, because Hjelde, Johnson and Anderson have a lot of improving to do before they are ready for that role.