Don Goodman, a Sky Sports pundit, praised Sunderland for their perseverance and bouncebackability in Saturday’s 3-2 victory over Swansea City, which was finished without Tommy Watson due to a frustrating injury. The Black Cats have just recently slowed down after a blistering start to the 2024/25 season under Regis Le Bris, who has had to deal with the division’s toiling and merciless nature in recent times, as well as a number of injury worries.
Sunderland’s squad was deemed unfit for purpose in a Championship promotion race, and while they have demonstrated that they are more than capable of competing throughout the season, Le Bris does not have depth at his disposal, and this has caught up with the team. The Frenchman recently announced Watson’s two-month injury hiatus, after the 18-year-old scored his first senior goals against Stoke City earlier this month and established himself as a regular starter in place of injured teammate Romaine Mundle.
Meanwhile, summer signings Ian Poveda, Salis Abdul Samed, Alan Browne, and Ahmed Abdullahi have all spent significant time on the sidelines this season. Sunderland’s Don Goodman praises Swansea City’s triumph despite Tommy Watson’s injury Despite Watson’s recently confirmed injury, Sunderland have shown early signs of being able to weather the storm and pick up points when their finest players are out injured.
It’s not an ideal situation for Le Bris, but he’s more than capable of making do with what he’s got for the time being and deserves credit for leading Sunderland to a 3-2 victory over Swansea City on Saturday afternoon, where they overcame a two-goal deficit to take all three points from South Wales thanks to goals from Daniel Ballard, Dan Neil, and Jobe Bellingham. Although Watson’s absence will undoubtedly be a setback, Sunderland has been praised for being competitive and winning convincingly at Swansea.
Goodman told Football League World exclusively via CoinPoker: “It’s always a setback at any level to lose a player who is in form and has a positive influence on games. However, a similar situation occurred recently when Romaine Mundle was replaced by Tommy Watson.The fact that they won without him and scored three goals against Swansea, who have a great defensive record at home, says it’s a significant but not insurmountable blow.
“It’s only a few weeks until Mundle returns, and Watson is due to return by the end of January. They will be able to win and compete without him, but losing him will be a setback. “I’d be shocked if Sunderland didn’t finish in the top six this season.” I’ve seen plenty of fight, resilience, and character in the manner they’ve won contests. I’ve seen enough from them. At the moment, I believe they will not receive automatic promotion, but we don’t know what they will do in January or how much they will spend.
Regis Le Bris wants to boost Sunderland AFC’s squad depth in January. One call of duty for Le Bris in January will undoubtedly be to increase the depth of his team, which would be extremely beneficial to their chances of returning to the Premier League. Although the former Lorient manager has fostered perseverance and unity in this Sunderland team, attributes that have been at the heart of some of their most impressive victories this season, their squad is very sparse beyond the starting lineup, which could be exposed later in the season. Ironically, Watson’s rise to first-team status was motivated by a desire to compensate for Mundle’s absence, who has been brilliant when healthy this season.
It’s likely that 19-year-old Eliezer Mayenda will play wide-left for the time being, but Sunderland’s roster may use some fine-tuning in January, and fans will undoubtedly demand specific changes and upgrades.
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