Regis Le Bris reveals Dan Ballard "problem" ahead of Sunderland AFC v Luton Town | OneFootball

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris is thinking about changing his side to deal with Luton's physicality

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris admitted that he had a selection headache ahead of the Black Cats’ Championship clash with Luton Town involving defender Dan Ballard.

The Black Cats host the struggling Hatters at the Stadium of Light this evening, hoping for a further three points to maintain their promotion push and to keep the pressure on the likes of Burnley and Sheffield United.

The aforementioned Ballard has not started a league game for Sunderland since mid-December, having sustained a muscle injury against Norwich City.

However, Le Bris has opted to bring the centre-back on from the bench in recent weeks.

Regis Le Bris issues Dan Ballard claim ahead of Sunderland v Luton Town

The Arsenal academy graduate has proven to be a key figure for the Black Cats since his arrival at the Stadium of Light in the summer of 2022, going on to make 88 appearances in red and white.

But the performances of Luke O’Nien and AFC Bournemouth loanee Chris Mepham have kept Ballard out of a starting berth in recent weeks.

Le Bris believes the competition for places at the back is a healthy issue for a manager to deal with.

"That's a problem for the coach and it's a good problem,” Le Bris said, as per the Northern Echo.

"Ballard is in a very good place. He didn't play a lot for the last couple of weeks but he's still involved and it's very important for the team spirit and we know we need competition to push everyone in the team.

"At the same time, if one player is struggling a little bit we have another one ready to play.

“I have a good question to solve and it's good for the performance of the team."

Clearly wary of Luton’s height and rugged play, Le Bris believes members of his squad would understand if they were dropped out of the side by tactical changes.

The Frenchman added: "They are smart, they have a shared goal, not an individual goal.

"You need maturity to understand that. Sometimes you can be mature at 17 and some other players might not have maturity at 30 or 34.

“Here in the dressing room the ideas are very clear.

“It's my job and they can understand my way of working."

Sunderland could struggle against Luton Town's physicality

Frenchman Le Bris may turn to Ballard in order to deal with the physical threat posed by Luton.

Only Portsmouth have won more aerial duals that Luton in the Championship this season, with the Hatters beating their opponents to the ball in the air 653 times according to fbref.com.

It comes as no surprise that Luton boast league leaders in aerial duals at both ends of the pitch.

Captain Carlton Morris leads the way for Championship strikers with 124 aerial duals won, highlighting Luton's tendency to go long and ask questions of opposition defences.

At the back Mark McGuinness ranks third across all players in the Championship for aerial duals won, with the Irishman winning 137 of his battles in the air.

Luton's aerial presence sees the Hatters attempt multiple long balls a game, ranking them fourth in the division with 2487 attempted long balls in the Championship.

The former FC Lorient manager admitted that Sunderland sometimes struggle when they face more robust opposition, before claiming that his side have the answers to any physical questions asked of them.

Le Bris continued: "I don't know if it's a weakness or just a question of style. You have a different style of play and have to have the players to play a certain way.

"When we have to face teams who have big physical attributes sometimes we can struggle.

“But at the same time we have the potential and the solutions in the team to solve many problems against this kind of team.

"Against Watford we lost a bit of our organisation.

“The game at Luton we were really well organised and from that foundation it was important to fight.