Who could be rested for Sunderland's clash with Leeds?

Today at 01:00 AM

As we prepare for the visit of Daniel Farke's side tomorrow night, we asked our writers for their thoughts on who might drop out, who might come in, and why

Malc Dugdale says…

I would definitely rest Chris Rigg on Friday night.

He's been amazing all season but we need to protect and develop him, not burn him out like we did with the likes of Callum Doyle.

Back then, we had little choice due to the issues in the back four, but we have several options to rest Rigg. If we get ahead, he can grab fifteen minutes at the end from the bench to dazzle them with his skills.

His time will come to take on Leeds from whistle to whistle and with some of the injury woes they have, it could be argued that we should stick with what we did well against Derby.

However, Rigg is precious and bringing in Alan Browne makes sense for more than just that reason. I feel we need more experienced heads and Browne is very much that.

Across the rest of the park, I think we stay the same but I very much want Régis Le Bris to have options at his disposal on the bench in case we take any early knocks, go behind or struggle to boss the game.

If we can get even a narrow win, the statement this makes will be way bigger than the three points on the board and staying top.

We mustn't carried away too soon, but a fine balance of young player management and pushing hard against the perceived top sides come the end of the season needs to be found. I'll miss this game due to a family birthday party, but I'll have one eye on the scores for sure.

Mark Roberts says...

Hear me out before discarding this as pure nonsense: Dennis Cirkin to be dropped, most likely for Luke O'Nien at left back with Leo Hjelde as a left-sided centre back, as long as Chris Mepham is OK.

There are multiple reasons for this, so I'll argue my case.

I'd banged the drum for Cirkin before the season started and nothing has changed since, in my opinion.

He's been class, and especially during the first four games as he was arguably our best player, but there's been a drop off in the last four, culminating in a pretty average performance against Derby.

Within the first seven minutes, he lost the ball, misplaced a pass and missed tackles, and although there was some improvement during the game, I thought he was our weak link and didn't look right.

Additionally, he's already played as many games as he did last season.

Let that sink in.

The season before that, he managed just over half the games, so it's easy to look at his injury record over the previous two seasons and claim it adds up to 'be very cautious, see the signs and look after him'.

Also, three games in six days, two of which are night fixtures, will affect the whole matchday setup as well as training.

Finally, Leo Hjelde, although I know this is a risk. He was let go by Leeds and if Mepham is fit, he'll have him and O'Nien either side of him.

I know we have a break coming, but is Cirkin playing worth the risk? I rest my case. Top of the league, so let's put Leeds to the sword.