Regis Le Bris reflects on Chris Mepham’s Sunderland debut in Boro win.
REGIS LE BRIS is delighted to have three centre-halves competing for two places after Chris Mepham enjoyed a winning Sunderland debut in yesterday’s Wear-Tees derby success against Middlesbrough.
Mepham joined the Black Cats on deadline day on a season-long loan from Bournemouth, and was pitched into the starting side against Boro after Dan Ballard was unable to train last week because of a foot injury sustained in the defeat at Plymouth.
While Ballard was able to take a place on the bench yesterday, Mepham was handed the task of partnering Luke O’Nien at the heart of the back four.
He responded with a polished defensive display as Sunderland kept their third clean sheet in the space of five Championship matches so far this season, and Le Bris admits he now has a welcome selection headache ahead of next weekend’s game at Watford.
“It wasn’t a tactical decision (to play Mepham against Boro) because Dan didn’t train during the week,” said the Sunderland head coach. “We knew that Chris was ready, and with his experience, he was a good player for us to bring in.
“It is a possibility to play with Luke and Mepham, Luke and Ballard or Ballard and Mepham. All of those things are possible now, so it is going to be interesting for us to work that out.”
Mepham was making his first domestic appearance of the season, with his only involvement prior to yesterday’s game having come in the Wales side that beat Montenegro in the Nations League at the start of the month.
His last domestic start had come in Bournemouth’s 2-1 win over Everton back in March, and having persuaded the 26-year-old to move to Wearside at the end of last month, Le Bris was delighted to see Mepham performing so well on his Black Cats debut.
“I am very happy for him (Mepham), and for us as well because this kind of player is very interesting and important because of his experience,” said Le Bris. “He is older, but he still wanted to come to the club and connect with his team-mates.
“He wants to be part of the model, and he agreed to come here. Sometimes, when some of the younger players around him get excited, he can reduce the tempo and give some advice to help his team-mates.”
