The next four game-stint is where Sunderland’s mettle will be tested to the full. Their next match against Millwall will demonstrate just how strong the depth of their squad is.
It is hard to imagine a Sunderland team where at least one of Trai Hume, Jobe Bellingham or Patrick Roberts are not involved but all three will be suspended for that game in east London. Add to that possible injury concerns with Romaine Mundle and Alan Browne and it paints a worrying picture.
On the plus side, goalkeeper Anthony Patterson should be ready to return. Okay Sunderland managed to head into the international break top of the Championship but what could have been a commanding lead – and at one time was five points – is now just goal difference separating them from Sheffield United. Below that, the pack is closing in.
Such a relentless division does not allow for teams to record draws on a consistent basis and for that club to remain top. Sunderland have only won three points from their last nine. The QPR match was a battling display with 10 men after Bellingham saw red. But they really could have done better against Preston but seemed to take a cautious approach. Not holding on to, or bettering, a two-goal lead against Coventry City was costly.
Winning is key as last season saw when Ipswich, Leicester and Leeds went at it hammer and tongs and only two of those prevailed. It was a demonstration of just how high the standards are. This season the division is not perceived to be as strong and certainly it appears more open.
So this is Sunderland’s chance to stay competitive despite the threat of teams catching them up. There is no doubt Regis Le Bris has brought excitement and hope to the Stadium of Light. Whether he can sustain the current rate of success is the question commentators will continually ask.
The next four games will go some way to answering whether they can. Millwall is not an easy place to visit and that is followed by clashes with fellow-promotion chasers West Bromwich Albion, at home, and then the seemingly indestructible Sheffield United, at Bramall Lane. Then comes a tricky contest with Stoke City.
If Sunderland grab anything at the New Den in the first of those they will have done well, given the potential number of players missing.
It’s an opportunity for fringe players to stake a claim. The likes of Aaron Connelly, Tommy Watson and Milan Alexsic will need to step up while Dan Ballard will no doubt be drafted in somewhere and will need to get back to match fitness quickly. Those two games with Northern Ireland will have done him the power of good. Le Bris’s fantastic start is just that. A start. Now the team have to push on to show their promotion credentials are authentic.
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