Several players could miss Sunderland vs Tottenham Hotspur at the Stadium of Light, with both Regis Le Bris and Roberto De Zerbi managing mounting injury issues
Regis Le Bris has ruled out six Sunderland players for the Premier League match against an injury-hit Tottenham Hotspur at the Stadium of Light.
Dan Ballard (hamstring) and Nilson Angulo (muscle) are both close to returning, but the Spurs match comes too soon for the pair. Bertrand Traore (knee), Jocelin Ta Bi (ankle), Romaine Mundle (hamstring) and Simon Moore (hand) are also still sidelined.
Le Bris, however, said the rest of the group are available, so Robin Roefs is back in contention after recovering from a hamstring injury. Enzo Le Fee, Nordi Mukiele and Reinildo are three more who the head coach can call on again.
Roberto De Zerbi, meanwhile, could find himself short of 10 players for his debut as the new Tottenham head coach. Dejan Kulusevski (knee), James Maddison (knee), Mohammed Kudus (thigh) and Wilson Odobert (knee) are all long-term casualties and remain on the sidelines.
Ben Davies (ankle) is pencilled in to return in late April. Guglielmo Vicario (hernia) and Rodrigo Bentancur (hamstring) are in a race to prove their fitness ahead of next week's home match against Brighton & Hove Albion, but will not feature at the Stadium of Light.
Mathys Tel (knock), Pape Matar Sarr (shoulder) and Yves Bissouma (knock) are all sweating on their availability for Sunday's fixture.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, De Zerbi first provided an update on Kudus, who has suffered a setback in his recovery from a lengthy quadricep injury.
Their head coach said: "I started not with too big luck, but yes, Kudus was in my head a crucial player, especially for the position, but we have to look forward anyway.
"I think we have a lot of very good attackers, and we have to help them, to put them in the best condition to show their qualities, because [Randal] Kolo Muani, I know he's not playing a great season, but he's a good player.
De Zerbi then addressed Vicario, who underwent hernia surgery following the 3-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest last time out. He said: "Vicario is not ready for this game. I hope he comes back earlier next week, but I don't know yet."
Bentancur is also edging closer to returning from a thigh problem. De Zerbi said he "is working with us, but not completely, but we are enough to fight, to play and to make points."