Despite long-term injuries to the likes of Tommy Watson and Romaine Mundle, Sunderland have powered on and maintained their unlikely promotion push to this point.
Regis Le Bris has a knack for finding the right players at the right time within his Sunderland squad, with stars like Eliezer Mayenda stepping up to lead the charge.
Now, it seems the Frenchman is going to have to find another solution to one major injury problem, be it with players in the team already, or by dipping into the transfer market.
Aji Alese’s broken leg rules him out until pre-season begins
We knew Aji Alese had suffered a ‘serious’ injury during the FA Cup defeat to Stoke City at the start of the year, but it is now a lot worse than first feared.
Speaking to the press (via the club’s official YouTube account), Le Bris was asked about Alese’s condition, and confirmed we will not see the defender again this term.
“He will miss the remainder of the season,” Le Bris said. “Aji will be available for pre-season now, it’s clear… it’s a broken leg, and something here in his hand, too, that needed fixing in surgery.”
Alese had made 12 appearances in the Championship this season, plus the one, ill-fated outing in the FA Cup, amounting to 759 minutes of football.
Sunderland must sign a new defender this month to cover
While Dennis Cirkin is sure to fill in for Alese for the rest of the season at left-back, his absence does push Sunderland to the limit when it comes to defensive cover.
Sunderland are thought to be looking for a new striker this month, but surely Le Bris needs a new defender even more now.
It remains to be seen how much business the Black Cats can get done before the end of the transfer window, but if Sunderland don’t have a new attacker and a new defender in their squad come February, their promotion hopes may well end up being derailed.
Dipping into the loan market would make sense, to ease the defensive woes in the short-term. But, there could be a surprise solution already on Wearside in the form of Jenson Seelt, a player Sunderland fans haven’t seen for almost a year, but who is now back in action after his own injury.
Leave a Reply