Phil Smith brings Sunderland fans the latest injury news and previews the Championship play-off final
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00:01Hello everyone, welcome to a short but special edition of On The Whistle.
00:06It's almost time, the last game of the season is here, next stop Wembley.
00:10Just being down at the academy, I'd like to speak to Regis Lebris about all things
00:13something versus Sheffield United in the championship playoff final.
00:16So I thought I'd do a very quick video just to preview the game a little bit,
00:19bring you up to speed with a few bits and bobs before we all set off for Wembley.
00:25Obviously the main thing everybody wanted to know coming into this press conference
00:29was about the injury situation, the fitness situation.
00:32Now as you can imagine, Lebris wasn't going to give too much away,
00:35he doesn't want Sheffield United to know what his team is, who's fit, who isn't.
00:38But actually it was probably quite encouraging on the whole.
00:42Obviously we know that Romain Mundell is recovering from this hamstring issue,
00:45which is a long term process really for a second injury of the season of that nature.
00:51Patrick Roberts we know was playing through with a bit of a calf issue in the second leg.
00:55But the update from Lebris was pretty positive.
00:58He said everyone is available, dot, dot, dot, more or less.
01:02A little bit later in the press conference he spoke with the newspapers about the situation
01:07and was just sort of basically saying that he hasn't got 100% availability,
01:11but he's hopeful that people can manage pain, can play through injuries if you like,
01:15and therefore everyone can play a part at least at some stage across the game.
01:19So we'll have to wait and see whether everybody makes it, but certainly the indication from that
01:26was that he would at least be able to name Mundell and Roberts in the squad.
01:29And I think it sets up from sort of previewing the game, he's got a couple of huge decisions to make
01:34because he's got to think about not just the first half of the game, but he's got to think about it in its totality
01:39and potentially the fact that it could be a 120-minute game.
01:43Clearly the first choice he's got to make is whether he goes with the 4-4-2 or the 4-2-3-1 or the 4-3-3,
01:49depending on kind of how you look at it.
01:51The 4-4-2 has worked really well against Sheffield United on New Year's Day.
01:55We obviously know what Meander and Isidore can bring.
01:58But I think obviously the challenge with that is that A,
02:01are you willing to surrender control of midfield in such an important game as this one?
02:05And B, it also means that if you play both those strikers from the start,
02:09one of them can't come on from the bench and bring that pace and energy.
02:13And I really do think this is going to be a massive part of where this game is won or lost
02:16because I think Sheffield United have got two huge strengths.
02:19They've got a defensive sturdiness, a good defensive organisation,
02:23that's stood up really well over the course of the season,
02:25a fantastic goalkeeper as well, a Michael Pupis,
02:27someone who I've rated for a very long time since I first saw them at Plymouth.
02:31But what they've also got is quality and depth and abundance.
02:35And I think depth is the key word.
02:37You know, you watch the first legs against Bristol City,
02:40you know, they weren't actually really making the most of the man advantage they had
02:44after Rob Dickey was sent off until the second half
02:47when Wilder was able to bring on Tom Davies and Callum O'Hare.
02:50And I think to bring players off the bench of that calibre,
02:53and that's with Ben Brereton-Diaz out with illness for those games,
02:56he was now available for the final.
02:58You begin to see that the big advantage Sheffield United have in this final is squad depth.
03:01And that's why I think it's so important that LeBris has players on the bench
03:04who can change the game.
03:06And so it'll be interesting to see whether he takes the gamble with the two strikers
03:09or whether he goes with one so that he has a potential game changer on the bench.
03:15And I think that will obviously dictate where he then goes with the other team,
03:18with the rest of the team.
03:19Obviously, the ideal scenario, hopefully Mundell and Roberts the Fit,
03:22potentially opens up the scenario of playing Enzo Le Fay in the middle,
03:25which hopefully gives him the most opportunity possible to get on the ball
03:29and dictate the game and maybe produce that bit of quality that we know he can do.
03:34I have to say that speaking to LeBris as ahead of the semi-finals,
03:38absolutely no change in his demeanour whatsoever.
03:41He was very clear that everything had been the same this week.
03:44He's keeping the players in a bubble.
03:46He's not letting any outside noise in.
03:48I think we've talked about it a lot this season,
03:50but LeBris' biggest strength is his temperament.
03:52And I think he exudes that level of calm and that consistency of his emotions to the players.
03:56And I do think that's a big asset for Sunderland going into this playoff final.
04:01He talked a little bit as well about VAR.
04:04Obviously, he's going to be a bit different.
04:05VAR was used for the Sunderland versus Wickham playoff final a few years ago.
04:09But thankfully, there was never any particularly major instance in the game that required it.
04:13The players had a meeting.
04:14A Premier League referee came in at the end of last week, LeBris was telling us,
04:18to talk them through things that might be different,
04:20things that they have to be aware of.
04:21Clearly, because of the semi-out made-off side system, that's the difference.
04:25But also a big thing was how you can do, or more to the point,
04:29how you can't defend set-pieces and what you've got to be aware of with VAR.
04:32So that's going to be really interesting to watch.
04:34Sheffield United have a really good set-piece record.
04:36And that's a big thing for Sunderland defenders.
04:39They've got to do the job, but they've also got to be mindful
04:41that potentially some things that they might be able to get away with week-to-week without VAR,
04:45they might not be able to with that technology in place.
04:47So it was really interesting to get his thoughts on that.
04:50Listen, I think everybody knows this is a huge game for Sunderland.
04:54I'm really excited about it in the sense that, A, I think the players massively,
04:58and certainly the fans massively, deserve this day.
05:00I think it's been a long season, but the players have shown an awful lot of fight
05:03and resilience to get this point, even when the football hasn't been sparkling.
05:07I think they've shown a lot of spirit and organisation and resilience to get us to this point.
05:12And I think that it's nice going into a game knowing,
05:15which maybe wasn't quite the case with some of the big League One player finals,
05:19that the foundations are really strong, no matter what the result is.
05:23And I think that enables everyone to go there with a lot of confidence,
05:26but also a lot of sort of calm and enjoy the occasion.
05:29Listen, naturally, if Sunderland don't win this game,
05:32there are going to be players who leave and it could be a difficult rebuild.
05:35You never know what lies ahead.
05:37But it certainly feels like the foundations of the team and the club,
05:40as strong as they've been for a long time.
05:42And listen, I think that Sheffield United's position,
05:44its favourites, is probably the right one,
05:47because of the points that they've won over the course of the season.
05:50As I say, that strong defensive record, and also just the depth.
05:53I think that does, you know, the quality that they have,
05:55because of the players they've been able to sign as a result of being in the Premier League
05:59and the parachute payments subsequently.
06:01There's every chance that tells, but it's, you know,
06:04we saw over the two games this season that there's not a lot between them on the day.
06:08We saw some of the excellent in the games against Burnley.
06:10They fought really well in the games against Leeds.
06:12There's absolutely no reason to think that this group of players can turn up and deliver
06:16and be really competitive and potentially go and get a result.
06:18So, yeah, fingers crossed that they can produce that on the day.
06:22So all that's left of me to say is have a fantastic weekend, safe travels,
06:26stay safe in London, look after each other, come and say hello.
06:30If you're seeing me round about, always nice to meet everyone.
06:34Fingers crossed. And how are the lads?
06:36And that's out there. Thanks for watching.