REGIS Le Bris will be boosted by the return of three key players for tomorrow’s visit of West Brom – and Sunderland’s squad could be further strengthened after assessments take place today.
Jobe Bellingham, Trai Hume and Patrick Roberts are all available again after serving their suspensions, while Le Bris could also welcome back Leo Hjelde and Nazariy Rusyn, who missed Saturday’s draw at Millwall with minor injuries.
It’s not clear at this stage whether Dennis Cirkin could be in contention to feature against the Baggies. He missed Saturday’s game after undergoing minor surgery on a broken wrist during the international break, and Sunderland say the left-back will return after a “short recovery period”.
Hjelde travelled to London with the squad at the end of last week but wasn’t risked at The Den, while Rusyn also missed out.
Le Bris said: “Leo and Naz were both injured, we don’t think they are major injuries but they weren’t available for us on Saturday.”
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Aaron Connolly was replaced in the second half on Saturday after a brief dizzy spell but the striker was hopeful of being available for tomorrow night’s game, where he’ll look to build on his first goal for the Black Cats.
Milan Aleksic replaced Connolly and Le Bris was delighted to give the summer recruit his first taste of action.
He said: “It was his first opportunity and he has earned these minutes.
“It was a difficult scenario [to go on]. You just have to give your best and push to your limits and he did this. Now it’s a question of repetition and building experience. I think you can see that he has many qualities to help us.”
Sunderland are looking to get back to winning ways against Albion after four straight draws but Le Bris’ side are unbeaten in nine. West Brom drew with Norwich at the weekend.
