Sunderland’s young side have suffered back-to-back defeats in the Championship for the first time under Regis Le Bris. A reminder of their fine season so far, but a worry nonetheless.
Hull City played the perfect away game on Saturday. They arrived at the Stadium of Light in 21st place of the Championship table but nicked a 1-0 win to ease their relegation fears this season.
It was a deserved win for the Tigers who came up against a Sunderland side that really offered very little. The Black Cats had few clear sights of goal, if but one for Wilson Isidor in the second half, with fans heard booing the Sunderland players at full-time.
In the game before, Sunderland were beaten 2-1 by Leeds United who came from behind to win. But now, this Hull City defeat has quickly piled misery on the Sunderland camp despite the club still sitting in 4th place of the table.
There’s a sense that Sunderland just aren’t doing as well as they know they can now. And the chasing pack in the Championship will quickly catch up and threaten the Back Cats’ top six position if this form continues.
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Sunderland players look ‘jaded’ after Hull City defeat
Last season udner Mike Dodds, Sunderland finished the season rather woefully. One of Dodds’ major criticisms was his persistence in selecting certain players who looked so tired as to be ineffective in games; Jobe Bellingham being that man last season.
Right now though it’s Chris Rigg. Sunderland fans have said Rigg needs a rest but Regis Le Bris keeps on starting him, albeit bringing him off after an hour of the game against Hull. But he’s not the only one. Journalist Michael Graham says Bellingham is again looking ‘jaded’ along with misfiring full-back Dennis Cirkin.
Graham posted on X after Sunderland’s 1-0 defeat against Hull City…
Two Sunderland changes Regis Le Bris should make vs Sheffield Wednesday
There’s not a lack of depth nor quality at Sunderland and maybe now is the time for Le Bris to really take some chances and swap round his team, even despite a difficult away game at Sheffield Wednesday coming up.
In the long run, it’d be beneficial to rest the likes of Bellingham and Rigg now and have them firing for the last games of the season, and possibly for the play-offs.
And Le Bris has two names he could do a straight swap with in the likes of Alan Browne for Bellingham and Milan Aleksic for Rigg; both of whom are fit and ready to go having barely played in the last couple of months.
As for Cirkin, he’s a bit more difficult to replace, especially with Dan Ballard now having a hamstring injury meaning Luke O’Nien can’t move out to the left. But there’s no denying that Cirkin has not been at his best in recent weeks.
Sunderland’s game at Hillsborough on Friday kicks off at 8pm.