Sunderland are out of the FA Cup, losing out to Stoke City at the first hurdle in the third round, and Regis Le Bris wasted a big opportunity during the game.
Naturally, most Sunderland fans would agree that keeping a firm eye on the league is the most important thing right now, with the Black Cats firmly involved in the title race now.
Regis Le Bris has worked wonders since arriving at the club, and the fact Sunderland have a chance of being promoted back to the Premier League is all anyone can think about.
The blow of being dumped out of the FA Cup, then, was not as heavy as one might think. Still, Le Bris did let the fans down with one decision, by denying them the chance to get a proper look at a Sunderland youngster they’ve been dying to see.
- READ MORE: After Ogunsuyi, Regis Le Bris must pave the ‘pathway’ for one ‘composed’ Sunderland academy gem
Trey Ogunsuyi’s nine-minute debut was not enough
Despite the FA Cup being a relatively low priority for Sunderland this season, Le Bris went with a fairly strong lineup for the game, though he did hand a start to the impressive Harrison Jones.
Fans were really hoping to see Trey Ogunsuyi get a decent run out, though, but they had to wait until the 111th minute of the game, deep into extra-time, before the wonderkid took to the pitch.
With the scores at 1-1 in normal time and Sunderland pressing for a winner in added time, Le Bris called on his prolific youth striker from the bench.
But, with Stoke landing a killer blow just a minute later, there was very little chance for Ogunsuyi to show what he could do, and supporters will now be wondering when they will get to see the 19-year-old in action again.
Why did Nazariy Rusyn get more game time than Ogunsuyi?
With Sunderland now only having Championship duty to think about, and every game being vitally important in their promotion push, it’s hard to imagine when Le Bris will readily hand more minutes to his fairly untested young striker.
Perhaps a loan move this month would now make more sense for Ogunsuyi, especially as Sunderland fans want a new striker to be added to the first-team squad who can fire them to promotion.
However, speaking of incomings and exits, it’s even more bizarre that Ogunsuyi didn’t get more minutes against Stoke, when you consider that Nazariy Rusyn — a player heading for the exit door at Sunderland — was brough on in the 75th minute.
Surely, with Le Bris so keen to promote from within, it would have made more sense to give the youngster a fair crack of the whip in normal time rather than turning to a fringe player who has failed to impress in his time on the pitch this season.
We can’t criticise Le Bris very often, and in the grand scheme of things, not giving Ogunsuyi more minutes here is not the end of the world. But, with Liverpool interested in the striker, the Black Cats would do well to keep him happy, and a proper chance in the FA Cup would have been a great gesture of faith.