Sunderland Echo writer James Copley reacts to all the latest talking points after Sunderland's 0-0 draw with Norwich City
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00:00Hi everybody, James Cockney here from the Southern Echo.
00:04I'm just going to go through a couple of the on-the-whistle questions after the game at Carrow Road against Norwich City.
00:10I'm currently standing in the train station in Norwich waiting for my early train.
00:15It's about 10 past 7, so it's been a very early start after what was a very late night.
00:20A lot of people have asked about Joe Bellingham, why he was rested.
00:24It is proportionary. Regis Libris, after the game, confirmed that he did have a little bit of an injury issue.
00:31Otherwise, he may well have been involved. He did drop completely out of the squad.
00:36Now, it sounds from Regis Libris like Joe Bellingham is going to be back to play Swansea City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
00:43But, to be honest, with Sunderland's promotion spot, playoff spot, sorry, pretty much secured coming into that Norwich game,
00:51the decision was made just to rest Joe Bellingham. Regis Libris said after the game that he was perhaps due a rest.
00:57And if you think of the amount of football Joe Bellingham's played this season, I think it was probably time.
01:02So, that doesn't seem like one to worry about currently.
01:06And hopefully, Joe Bellingham will be back for the Swansea City game and Sunderland's playoff run.
01:12Another question I've been asked about a couple of times on social media, YouTube and Twitter,
01:17is, is Sunderland's playoff position now mathematically secure?
01:24Yes, it is. Given the number of games Sunderland have to play, even if Bristol City were to win all of their games,
01:29they could still finish above Sunderland.
01:31But, West Brom, sorry, not West Brom, Coventry City and Middlesbrough have to play each other.
01:37So, that means the point against Norwich City and Carrow Road means Sunderland are mathematically secure in terms of their playoff positions.
01:46I was also asked a couple of times about Dennis Serkin.
01:49The last update we got from Regis Libris was about two or three weeks more for Dennis Serkin.
01:55That was perhaps a week ago, so you're now looking at the two-week mark, I think.
01:59I'm sure he'll get asked about that during his press conference in the week.
02:04But I suspect Sunderland won't go about rushing Dennis Serkin back.
02:07You know, Alan Brown's come over to right back.
02:09Trae Hume's got a left back. They've swapped that around in recent games.
02:13Leo Hjelbe is now back as well and playing well.
02:17You know, start to get a little bit of momentum.
02:19Had a few hairy moments against Norwich City, I think it's fair to say.
02:22But, overall, positive to have Leo Hjelbe back.
02:26So, I don't think that they will rush Dennis Serkin.
02:30A lot of people as well have been asking about whether we should be concerned that Sunderland's attack seems to be quite bruised at the moment.
02:38And I think it is a little bit of a concern going into the playoffs.
02:41But, Sunderland are now keeping clean sheets.
02:43They're now being dogged, determined defensively.
02:46I think that's very, very promising.
02:47And I think Sunderland will click in attack again.
02:51Hopefully get back to the free-scoring form that they showed earlier on in the season.
02:55Thinking of the games against Sheffield Wednesday and Cardiff and the like.
03:00It is a little bit of a concern, isn't it, going into a play-off campaign.
03:03Because you would like Sunderland to score more goals.
03:07Of course, we've tended to edge games 1-0, haven't we, over the course of this season.
03:12But Sunderland have some very good attacking players.
03:14I think it's worth noting against Norwich City as well that it was always going to be difficult to Sunderland to find defeat in attack.
03:21Because you had Milan Aleksic playing over on the right-hand side, on the right wing.
03:25That's not a position he's really familiar with.
03:27Tommy Watson was over on the left.
03:28He hasn't played a lot of football.
03:31It was Eliza Mayenda up front who was replacing Wilson Isidore.
03:34So he doesn't really have a head of steam at the moment.
03:37Although he did play a fair amount of football against West Brom after coming on.
03:43A few people have asked as well about what Libri said about Enzo Le Fay.
03:47To be honest, when Enzo Le Fay came onto the field in the second half,
03:50I actually felt for the first time that there was a possibility that Sunderland could win the game.
03:54I thought his quality on the ball, his touches, his turning, his range of passing was superb.
03:59So I'm reluctant to over-egg Enzo Le Fay, but I just think that he's absolutely brilliant.
04:05I spoke to Alan Brown after the game as well.
04:07And he basically said to me that there's nobody like Enzo Le Fay at the club or in the championship.
04:14I asked Alan Brown about where Enzo Le Fay ranked in terms of the players he's played with.
04:19And Alan Brown said he was right up there.
04:21But what did Libri say about him after the game?
04:23He's still going to manage Enzo Le Fay.
04:26He didn't give anything away in terms of Swansea and Swansea City at the stadium flat on Saturday.
04:31But I think he wants to wrap the French midfielder up in cotton wool, heading into the playoff campaign.
04:37Sunderland have five games left, so I don't see any reason why they need to sort of throw him into the deep end.
04:43I think it's good, especially with a hamstring injury.
04:46We've seen Romain Mundell, haven't we, have a reoccurrence of his injury,
04:49which is a real shame for Sunderland heading into the playoff campaign.
04:52So I don't think they'll want to repeat that with Enzo Le Fay.
04:55And the same with Dennis Surgon.
04:56I can't see, although Enzo Le Fay is obviously back playing, I can't see them rushing him too fast.
05:03A lot of people as well have asked about Sunderland's fringe plays and the impact they can have towards the back end of the season.
05:10And I think, you know, it would be good to see with Anna Lexic a lot more.
05:14Sunderland have paid good money for him last summer.
05:16He's been obviously in and out of the side, had some unlucky moments this season, just thinking a way to Millwall at the den.
05:23He probably should have scored and then Millwall go up and score at the other end.
05:27So I think we will see Regis Labrice use his squad a little bit more like he did against Norwich.
05:34Obviously he made four changes.
05:37But Labrice also has to balance that, doesn't he, with the fact that Sunderland are in the playoffs now and they need to build momentum and finish the season as strongly as possible.
05:47So they go into that playoff campaign in good form, in good spirits.
05:51I think he wants to develop a few little things tactically as well.
05:55But I think overall, generally, I think the first half against Norwich was very, very pure.
06:01And I thought Dan Neal particularly was at the par.
06:03I've mentioned that in our On The Whistle post-match video.
06:10But I think it's a good point in the end for Sunderland.
06:12Three clean sheets on the bounce.
06:13I thought Chris Madman was absolutely fantastic.
06:15I think there's lots to be positive about heading into the final games.
06:18And it's an interesting fixture against Swansea on Saturday to see what Labrice does.
06:22Will he sort of play his first tee?
06:25Or will he look to rotate again?
06:27Look to give Milan Alexic more minutes?
06:30I'm guessing we'll find out on Thursday, which is Labrice's press conference day.
06:33Thank you very much for watching because it's been a little bit of a slapstick video.
06:38I'm currently in the waiting room in Norwich City's, in Norwich's train station.
06:44I'm a little bit groggy.
06:45I'm a little bit tired.
06:45So I probably haven't made a lot of sense, but I appreciate you consisting with us and me and the On The Whistle videos.
06:52Phil will be back.
06:53He'll be pleased to know after the Swansea City game for On The Whistle.
06:58He tends to do a lot better job of these things than I do because, yeah, I'm on the move and it's been tough.
07:03But anyway, I digress and I'm rambling.
07:05You can head over to the Sunderland Echo website for all your latest news after Norwich City and ahead of the Swansea City game.
07:12Thank you very much for watching.