Despite Timothee Pembele and Zak Johnson’s potential departures this month, Regis Le Bris thinks he doesn’t need to acquire a right-back. Niall Huggins won’t be available to return to Sunderland until early in the new year.
Huggins hasn’t appeared in a game for Sunderland since sustaining a major knee injury during the team’s December home loss to Coventry.
The gifted full-back, who appeared to have left his two years of injury suffering behind him and was among Sunderland’s best players in the first part of the season, was devastated by the news.
Trai Hume is Sunderland’s sole natural right-back because Huggins is out and Pembele is not in Le Bris’ immediate plans, but the head coach doesn’t think strengthening that position is necessary in front of next week’s transfer deadline.
“At the moment we don’t have a replacement for Hume but we can find many solutions,” Le Bris added.
“We can use three centre backs, for instance, or switch up who we play with when we have the ball. We could use a winger, for example, if we were playing with just one player on the side.
“We might not have a designated right back at the moment, but we can still play to fix that issue. Right now, I don’t really see a problem with it.”
Even though Le Bris made 11 changes and gave bench players an opportunity to shine in the Carabao Cup, Pembele was absent from the matchday squad for the first two Championship games of the season.Le Bris has said that Sunderland is eager for Pembele to go on loan, and they are currently searching for a suitable replacement.
Although Johnson played center-half for Preston, he was a right-back at Preston. Given the intense competition for spots in that position, Le Bris acknowledged that a loan move might be the best option for the 19-year-old, who also played for Hartlepool and Dundalk the previous season.
Le Bris is attempting to ensure that Huggins, who is 23 years old, still feels like a member of the starting team even though his return is still a long way off.
“I believe he won’t be available until January,” he stated.
“We make sure he keeps in touch with the team so he can learn about our preferred style of play, our experiences in the games, and our problem-solving techniques. They participate in every meeting that takes place near the pitch.”
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