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“He will play, for sure”- Sunderland man who’s ‘struggled’ this season given game time guarantee by Regis Le Bris
Regis Le Bris has quickly settled on his preferred Sunderland starting XI, leaving several players fighting for minutes at the Stadium of Light.
Among those struggling for game time are French duo Abdoullah Ba and Adil Aouchiche. While both could have left Sunderland in the summer, they stayed, with Aouchiche being the only one to feature in the league this season, making a single appearance.
Other players, like Nazariy Rusyn, have made a few substitute appearances—six in total—but haven’t played since early October. Milan Aleksic, meanwhile, is still waiting for his debut despite being named on the bench for every match.
One of the more unfortunate cases this season is Dan Ballard, whose injury troubles have limited him to just five Championship appearances. Ballard sustained a knee injury in the summer, which kept him out at the start of the season. In September, he suffered a separate ankle injury that sidelined him again until earlier this month. He made a brief appearance off the bench against Coventry City but now finds himself competing for a place in the starting lineup, with Chris Mepham impressing in his absence.
In an interview with The Northern Echo, Le Bris emphasized that Ballard is still an important player for Sunderland and will get opportunities to play in the Championship this season. Le Bris noted, “We’ve spoken with Dan a lot. He struggled with his knee in pre-season, and when he came back, he wasn’t in his best match fitness.”
During the November international break, Ballard is among the Sunderland players on duty, which could be an opportunity for him to regain match fitness. The 25-cap Northern Ireland international is part of the squad for the Nations League fixtures against Belarus and Luxembourg.
Ballard could see significant minutes in these games, especially as he is a trusted player of Northern Ireland manager Michael O’Neill. So far, he has made 70 appearances for Sunderland. His first season (2022/23) was marred by injury, but last year he impressed, making 43 appearances.
