ENZO LE FEE will return to the Sunderland squad at West Brom tomorrow, but Regis Le Bris intends to tread carefully with the Roma loanee in the hope of avoiding another injury setback.
Le Fee has been sidelined since suffering a hamstring injury during the first half of Sunderland’s home defeat to Hull City in mid-February.
The French midfielder made a huge impression after joining the Black Cats on loan in January, delivering a series of dazzling displays in his first month in English football.
He made eight starts in a row after joining Sunderland, having barely featured for Roma in the first half of the season, with his heavy workload perhaps a factor in the muscular issue that forced him onto the sidelines.
There were mitigating factors behind his high level of involvement – Sunderland found themselves without a natural left winger with Romaine Mundle and Tommy Watson both injured – but having eased Le Fee back into training in the second half of last month, Le Bris does not intend to rush him back into action now he is available. As a result, he is likely to find himself on the bench at the Hawthorns.
“We will try (to be patient) for sure, yes, I think this is important,” said Le Bris. “The situation was different when he first arrived because at that time we were still very much in the [top two] race and two wingers were still missing at that moment. The core of the team was really short.
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“It is a little bit different now, so I hope we will have this opportunity to build a dynamic, one to avoid another injury and another to build the best shape possible for him.”
While Le Fee has spent virtually all of his Sunderland career so far playing on the left flank, the 25-year-old is not really a winger.
Le Bris had earmarked him for the ‘number ten’ role when he persuaded him to swap Serie A for the Stadium of Light, and intends to use him as a central attacking-midfielder in the remainder of the season.
“I hope now that we will see him in midfield because this is his best position,” said Le Bris. “We'll try to connect the other midfielders now.”
Dan Neil, Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg have formed Sunderland’s first-choice midfield unit for most of the season, but with Alan Browne also now part of the mix, Le Bris is looking forward to being able to rest and rotate ahead of what is almost certain to be a campaign in the play-offs.
“I don’t think the players necessarily need competition, because they are so well connected with the game and they are so committed to improving their game every single day,” he said. “So, I don't think this competition is necessarily important for these players.
“But, for sure, it (Le Fee being back available) is very useful for us. With Enzo, we will have another option, a different style of player who will maybe build different connections.
“Maybe it will open up more rotation in midfield. It is tough to play every minute with the same players - if we can have another player at the level the output of the team is going to be better, for sure.”
