The next move for the Sunderland boss should be clear with two key absentees confirmed.
Sunderland will be hoping to respond in the midweek as they face off against Preston North End, where they will hope to put on an improved performance to the one that earned them a point against Queens Park Rangers in a 0-0 draw.
The Black Cats will go into the upcoming game without some key players, including midfielder Jobe Bellingham, who was handed a red card by the referee last time out. The Sunderland man-in-the centre-of-the-park has been integral to Regis Le Bris’ side up until this point, and that certainly showed in the remaining minutes against QPR after his dismissal.
Le Bris will also be without midfield gem Chris Rigg, who was confirmed to have picked up an injury by the French boss.
The centre-of-the-park has been irreplaceable up until this point and it will be tricky for Le Bris to replicate his side’s performances without the pair, however he can make one decision that could highly benefit Sunderland.
Regis Le Bris should utilise Sunderland midfielder Milan Aleksic against Preston North End
Sunderland signed Milan Aleksic in a late Deadline Day deal for £3million, and whilst he arrived with plenty of promise and expectation due to his seven-figure price tag, his qualities are yet to be displayed up until this point.
He is yet to be handed his first minutes with Sunderland, and he will have had to have shown plenty of patience up until this point after not notching a single minute of action so far.
But with two absentees in the ranks, Le Bris has limited options of players to turn to, with Adil Aouchiche also providing an alternative option, however the French boss is unlikely to give him any game time this season.
Milan Aleksic will face make-or-break opportunity against Preston
For whatever reason, the Black Cats coach has been adamant on not handing the Serbian 19-year-old any gametime at this stage. As a result, the opportunity he will likely be handed against Preston North End could be critical in deciding where his Sunderland career under Le Bris will take him.
The fact that he arrived with such a high price-tag suggests that Aleksic could have some serious talent at just the age-of-19, and due to the fact that Le Bris is well-known for his man-management of younger players, there doesn’t seem to be a reason on the surface as to why the French boss has taken a blind-eye to him.
Prior to his arrival in Wearside, he starred in two Europa Conference League qualifiers with his former side FK Radnicki, where he scored two goals. That mould of a goalscoring midfielder is what Le Bris needs to fill in the coming weeks, and Aleksic is the answer to that.