Sunderland face growing concerns over the fitness of Brian Brobbey and Granit Xhaka after both players were withdrawn from international duty. The pair were substituted during the 1-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday, with Xhaka lasting just four minutes after aggravating a calf muscle in the warm-up. Brobbey, who has been struggling with a hamstring problem that has already caused him to miss games, was replaced by Wilson Isidor in the 67th minute.
International withdrawals and upcoming fixtures
Both players have been pulled out of the Switzerland and Netherlands squads respectively. The Black Cats return to action after the international break with a demanding schedule, travelling to Aston Villa on Saturday, November 21, and hosting Tottenham three days after a Europa League home game against Jagiellonia Białystok.
The Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle United is also on the horizon on December 6, with Brobbey and Xhaka considered key players for that encounter.
O'Nien on shared pressure
Defender Luke O'Nien has said Sunderland's players must share responsibility for the pressure on head coach Regis Le Bris. He admitted the squad are well aware of the situation the Frenchman faces, a position that improved with the victory over Chelsea.
Boos were heard during the 2-0 Europa League defeat to Dinamo Zagreb, but those turned to cheers on Sunday afternoon following a much-improved display. O'Nien said the struggles must be shared among the players, even though the manager usually takes the blame.
“I think as players, we’re under pressure too,” he told reporters. “Performance comes down to every single person, and everybody feels that, and I think it’s rightly so. We’re out there to perform, and we haven’t got the points we want.
“The gaffer is the face of that, but equally, as players, myself, senior players, the younger players, we all take responsibility for that. It’s a team effort. We go out there, and yeah, so I think he crowd wanted that against Chelsea, we all wanted it, and yeah, very proud of the boys and us for that.”
Fan support and response
While Robin Roefs and Noah Sadiki have voiced their support of Le Bris in recent weeks, results on the pitch will be the defining factor. O'Nien said the players must give the crowd a performance to get behind.
“They’ve been excellent, and we’ve got to give them the performance for them to get behind,” O'Nien said of the crowd. “I think we did that from the very first couple of minutes, the way we pressed, the way we hunted them down, and the crowd responded. So we’re well aware of what the fans want to see; when it’s not going well, we hold our hands up.
“There’s never a lack of effort or trying. Sometimes it doesn’t click, and we’ve been working really hard behind the scenes, and today you saw that.”
