Regis Le Bris has outlined one issue with his Sunderland squad that was obvious in the defeat to Hull City.
Sunderland suffered defeat to Hull City at the Stadium of Light, the first home loss in Regis Le Bris’ tenure.
It was an uninspiring performance by Le Bris’ side, who were unable to see off a lowly Hull side, striking a likely end to their automatic promotion ambitions.
Anthony Patterson’s error led to the sole goal of the game, and fans have shown their discontent towards the Sunderland goalkeeper, but the showing from the entire team was far from brilliant.
Sunderland boss Le Bris has revealed that ‘serious’ questions must be asked following the defeat about Patterson’s mishap in the lead-up to his own goal, but he has also noted another issue that played its part in the defeat, one that easily could have been rectified by Kristjaan Speakman in the January transfer window.
Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris hints at player fatigue amid small squad concerns
There is no disguising the fact that Sunderland’s squad size is on the lower side. Sunderland has used just 27 players this season, the 7th lowest in the Championship, 10 of which have played a maximum of just two games.
Many have suggested that several Sunderland players have looked jaded, with fans stating that Chris Rigg must be rested, and now Le Bris has indicated his very own concerns over his squad’s fitness.
Per Sunderland Echo, Le Bris said: “It’s possible there’s some fatigue with some of our players.
“It was our 34th game today and we have had a small squad, so we can understand that we can have a low point in our dynamic. The players tried, but it wasn’t enough today for sure. We have to recover a little to build a good shape for the last stage of the season.”
Black Cats boss Le Bris made just three substitutions in the defeat, notably not utilising summer signings Ian Poveda and Milan Aleksic.
Kristjaan Speakman transfer dealings have had knock-on effect for Black Cats
Looking at the players that Sunderland signed in the January transfer window, there is no doubt that they brought in quality, with Enzo Le Fee and Jayden Danns arriving from Italian giants Roma and Premier League side Liverpool respectively, but one quota was unfulfilled, and that was quantity.
Throughout Le Bris’ tenure, he has worked with a slimline squad, and that decision made by him and Speakman is slowly creeping back up to them. The French boss is aware of the issues surrounding fatigue, but still utilised an unchanged side that played in the midweek.
On top of bringing in top-quality attackers, Speakman should have identified the issues surrounding squad depth, which has a knock-on effect on the match fitness of the ranks, something that was a prominent issue against Hull, and will continue to be unless Le Bris makes changes.