Sunderland have four more pre-season fixtures left under Regis Le Bris before they start their 2024/25 Championship campaign.
Sunderland take on Eldense in their next pre-season friendly on Sunday, and in their final game during their pre-season tour of Spain.
On Friday, Sunderland drew 1-1 with Nottingham Forest in what was their third friendly of the summer so far.
Regis Le Bris’ side have won one, lost one, and now drawn one, as the Black Cats gear up for life under their new boss.
It’s a clean slate for the Sunderland first-team squad after a difficult 2023/24 season which saw the Black Cats finish in 16th place of the table.
But there’ll be players in the side with a point to prove after a particularly challenging last season, and here’s three Sunderland players who need to impress Le Bris this summer…
Luis Hemir
Luis Hemir feels like the obvious candidate after what was a really challenging debut season with Sunderland last time round.
The 20-year-old was given his chance to impress, featuring 23 times in the Championship, but failing to score or assist a single goal.
He became a vast source of criticism among Sunderland fans and with Kristjaan Speakman likely to sign new strikers this summer, Hemir is at risk of falling even further down the pecking order.
Patrick Roberts
Another Sunderland man who endured a pretty torrid 2023/24 season was fan favourite Patrick Roberts, who failed to score and claimed just two assists in 32 league outings.
BBC pundit Marco Gabbiadini previously described Roberts’ 2023/24 season as ‘shocking’.
It came after a promising 2022/23 which saw the experienced attacker claim 12 goal contributions in the Championship.
Roberts was given a run out vs Nottingham Forest but didn’t blow anyone away; he’ll surely need to impress this summer to stand a chance of being in starting contention under Le Bris next season.
Jay Matete
Sunderland fans haven’t seen all that much of midfielder Jay Matete, who joined the club from Fleetwood Town during the 2021/22 campaign.
He showed promise at first but couldn’t work his way into contention in the Championship, having since spent time on loan in the third tier with Plymouth Argyle and Oxford United.
Last season, injury meant that Matete only featured six times for Oxford in League One but he featured in the recent friendly defeat vs Gateshead.
He certainly has a lot to prove this summer if he’s to stay at Sunderland, let alone be a regular feature next time round.