We all dread international breaks, but let’s admit it — this one has arrived at the perfect time for us.
Millwall, coming up a week on Saturday, will be a tough test. We’re missing three players through suspension and two through injury, and they’re a team that loves to hammer opponents with high balls from set pieces. Their towering centre-half, Jake Cooper, scored against us in February 2023 and was on the scoresheet against Burnley last week, too. In that February game, Dennis Cirkin suffered a concussion while equalising and was out for most of the season, only returning to score against Cardiff in April and then netting that memorable double against West Brom later that month.
I remember our home game against Millwall in December 2022, a rescheduled match during the World Cup in Qatar. They bullied us throughout the first half, but we eventually won comfortably with three second-half goals.
One of the defining aspects of this season has been our ability to stand our ground and mix it up with teams that try to bully us — just think back to Luton, Preston, and even Coventry. It’s fair to say we would likely have lost all those games last season.
Luton Town FC v Sunderland AFC – Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Charlotte Wilson/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
We’re capable of handling Millwall and their hardball tactics.
But we’ll be missing key players. Jobe Bellingham, Alan Browne, Romaine Mundle, Patrick Roberts, and Trai Hume are all unavailable due to suspensions and injuries.
Fortunately, previous injury victims Eliezer Mayenda and Dan Ballard are fit. If Aji Alese is also ready to return — though that’s a big if — we can put out a solid defence, but our midfield is looking sparse.
Aaron Connolly hasn’t made much of an impact on his two first-team appearances, and Tommy Watson looked hesitant at Preston; is Millwall really the game to blood him?
Could this be the moment for Milan Aleksić to make his debut?
The sceptics warned we’d be in trouble once suspensions and injuries hit. And indeed, the team has looked shaky at full strength in the last three games. It’s fair to say we’ve really missed Jobe.
They say necessity is the mother of invention.
Sunderland AFC v Derby County FC – Sky Bet Championship
Photo by MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images
I was at the pre-season games where we beat a Spanish second-tier side and then held Marseille to a solid 2-2 draw. That’s when I first thought our new coach might have something special, as we held our own against a team that finished eighth in Ligue 1.
Régis Le Bris is a real coach. So far, he’s barely put a foot wrong. The team has momentum and remains unbeaten in eight. With the time he has during this break, who’s to say the gaffer can’t drill the team for another successful away performance?
