Regis Le Bris admits Sunderland AFC issue ahead of January | OneFootball

Injuries and suspensions have really highlighted this problem.

There is a "large gap" between the standard of Sunderland's core group and the younger players who are coming up through the ranks, according to Regis Le Bris.

Sunderland missed out on the opportunity to move back to the top of the league when they lost at Bramall Lane against Chris Wilder's Sheffield United. They are now five points off the Blades, who lead the league, but are still in fourth.

Each side had a man sent off in the first-half, Sunderland missed a penalty and a late goal from a returning Tom Davies was all that separated the two sides. The Black Cats largely limited the host's chances, but didn't do quite enough to keep them at bay for the whole game, which led to the end of their ten-game unbeaten streak.

Injuries and suspensions have caused a lot of selection issues for Le Bris over the last month, in which they are winless. More and more onus has been put on the players who have been in reserve, many of whom are still quite young and inexperienced; the boss has identified this as an issue.

Regis Le Bris highlights Sunderland's squad problem

The Frenchman believes that there is not enough of a bridge between the regular first-teamers and the up-and-coming players at the club. A lot of Sunderland's recent recruitment has focused on acquiring youthful talents, but that has started to bite them a bit recently.

"We have many young players, and as I have been saying on a number of occasions, we have young players who are talented, but who need minutes and experiences," Le Bris admitted, via the Northern Echo.

"The (gap) between the core and these young players, who need experiences, is quite large. I am sure they will be good players in the future – maybe three months, maybe six months, we don’t know.

"This is our identity, and we have to take that into account. For the coaches and the players, yes we can be frustrated about some elements, but we have to manage it effectively."

Sunderland's squad problem can be addressed in January

The signings that have been made since Le Bris came in during the summer have been more heavily concentrated with experienced players. Alan Browne, Chris Mepham and Ian Poveda all had plenty of Championship experience under their belts before joining the Black Cats.

There is, however, still a fairly big emphasis on youth recruitment, as was proven by the club's deadline day deals. They signed Milan Aleksic, Salis Abdul Samed and Ahmed Abdullahi, all of whom are young and had played a small amount of first-team minutes.

The likes of Browne and Mepham have been the better of the additions made in Le Bris' short reign, despite the injury and now suspension being suffered by the former and the latter, respectively. The January transfer window offers Sunderland a chance to lean more in this direction, and help their head coach to bridge the experience gap that currently exists among the players.