Assessing the strength of Sunderland's squad ahead of the run in
Today at 02:00 AM
As the season heads towards its finale, Calum Mills looks at how we're shaping up and whether our recruitment has left us well-placed for playoff success
After Saturday's dismal defeat away at Coventry, Régis Le Bris finally confirmed what we all knew: the Lads are burned out.
We've signed some players with good quality and from what we've seen, Milan Aleksić hasn't done anything to warrant not being considered as a second half substitute as he's provided some exciting moments in red and white.
Elsewhere, Alan Browne's performed well when given a chance following his return from injury, but that's about it.
Ahmed Abdullahi was on the verge of making it into our matchday squad but succumbed to a recurrence of an injury just as he was showing promise in the U21's.
Ian Poveda and Salis Abdul Samed have both spent more time in the treatment room than out on the training pitch, so why weren't capable replacements brought in during the January transfer window? I've been a supporter of the pair of them, but they've been two poor pieces of recruitment amid some brilliant recent signings.
The loan signing of Enzo Le Fée and the conversion of Wilson Isidor's loan to a permanent deal masked a poor January window, and we've had also several players on the bench this season that have had little playing time, as Le Bris either doesn't think they're ready or that they're not good enough.
Harrison Jones, Trey Ogunsuyi and Ben Middlemas have all shone in our reserve squad but only Jones has stepped across the white line for us in the league.
This has resulted in many of our young stars being flogged and turning out sub-par performances. Apart from Eliezer Mayenda, Chris Rigg was the only other player in our squad on Saturday who had some fuel in the tank, but even that ran out around the sixty-minute mark.
I mentioned in a previous article that I won't accept the only route to promotion is through the playoffs until it's mathematically impossible for us not to be promoted automatically, but the reality is that a trip to Wembley is looking more and more likely.
We've fumbled so many points — not just in recent weeks, but over the entire season, and with eight games left, having our starting eleven as fit and raring to go as humanly possible is vital and maybe it's about time the coaching staff looked to rotate players from the off.
We're lucky to have this international break at a crucial time in the season.
If I was a Coventry, Bristol City or West Brom fan, I'd be a little cheesed off that it's happened now as all three of them are flying and are rightfully in or around the playoff places with great momentum behind them.
We were also left frustrated by breaks in the season whilst we were top of the league but for Sunderland, we're huffing and puffing our way towards the finish line.
For our sake, I hope the players come back with fire in their bellies and that they realise what can be achieved. The Premier League carrot is being dangled in front of them and they should be willing to do whatever it takes to grab it with both hands.
