REGIS LE BRIS has confirmed that Romaine Mundle suffered a hamstring injury in Sunderland’s win over West Brom – and insisted his decision to bring on Eliezer Mayenda ahead of Tommy Watson had nothing to do with the latter’s impending move to Brighton.
Mundle was forced off in the first half at the Hawthorns, with his departure coming a few minutes before Trai Hume scored what proved to be the winning goal from a direct free-kick.
The winger will be assessed in the next couple of hours, but given that the latest injury is a recurrence of a previous hamstring issue, there is a chance he could be facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
“It's his hamstring, yes,” confirmed Le Bris, whose side successfully followed up last weekend’s victory over Millwall with another 1-0 win. “We'll have to wait one or two days to assess how serious it is, but it is the same hamstring he injured earlier this season. We'll have to see.”
When Mundle was forced from the field, Le Bris could have turned to Watson as a like-for-like replacement.
Instead, he brought on Mayenda in a wide-attacking role on the left, with the Spaniard winning the free-kick that led to Hume’s goal.
Watson is leaving Sunderland to join Brighton in the summer, having turned down a series of contract offers from the Black Cats, but Le Bris is adamant the teenager’s impending departure was not the reason he was overlooked this afternoon.
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“Bringing Eli on was nothing to do with Tommy and the move to Brighton,” said the Black Cats boss. “I think Eli can probably be disappointed not to be in the starting XI because I think he deserves to be in the team. At the same time, it's not always possible because of the competition.
“He is the player who I think is most ready. He can play in different positions and is more mature, so I think this question was quite easy for me to solve.
“He can play off the left, off the right, as a striker or as a second striker even. He's a versatile player who works very well with the team.
“This was the obvious decision for me. He didn't play a lot of minutes of last season but now you can feel he is getting better because of his experiences. It's very positive for him and for us.”
Hume’s free-kick winner followed hot on the heels of last weekend’s match-winning strike against Millwall.
The Northern Ireland international has been repositioned to left-back in the absence of both Dennis Cirkin and Aji Alese, but has slipped seamlessly into his new role despite continuing to struggle with the hip problem that forced him out of international duty last month.
“A left-back who can score, it is very useful for us,” said Le Bris. “It shows that when the players are now in the stage of the season, it is not just about good qualities. It is now a question of mindset and if they are very connected like this, everyone can score.
“Trai has been really important for us and hopefully other can players follow his example.
“Trai is young but very mature, we can feel his mindset in different phases of the game. When a player becomes so impactful, it tells you something about his maturity.
“He's very well-balanced and this ability he is adding to the game, his profile is getting even better. Trai is a warrior, even with an injury he wants to play. He wants to compete and game after game, he shows how much he is improving.”
