Regis Le Bris has every right to fume after Habib Diarra developments away from Sunderland
Habib Diarra is away with Senegal on international duty.
Sunderland are preparing to face Leeds at the Stadium of Light on Sunday, and just as they were against Brighton, they will be without several key players.
That being due to AFCON, albeit now with Diarra having also joined up with his teammates from Senegal for the competition.
However, after the latest developments surrounding the Strasbourg-signed midfielder, Regis Le Bris won’t be best pleased, and nor should he be.
Diarra an unused sub for Senegal again
Diarra has only just returned from an injury sustained early in the season, and that is likely a big reason behind his international snubs.
However, for the midfielder not to have played a minute in either of Senegal’s fixtures so far at AFCON, it certainly begs the question as to whether it was even worth him travelling.
Not only would Sunderland have benefited from his return, but the Black Cats would almost certainly have preferred to oversee the final stages of his treatment on Wearside.
Senegal could only manage a draw against Noah Sadiki’s DR Congo, and even then, the creative maestro was not called upon.
Their next encounter is on 30 December when they take on Benin, and if Diarra fails to feature again, that frustration will only grow further.
How have Sunderland’s other stars fared at AFCON?
Sadiki has been immense for Sunderland this season, so to see him have played every minute for DR Congo comes as no surprise.
His international teammate Arthur Masuaku has also started both of their fixture, but was withdrawn against Senegal due to injury.
Reinildo suffered a defeat with Mozambique against the Ivory Coast, while Bertrand Traore was on the winning side as Burkina Faso secured a 2-1 win over Equatorial Guinea.
As for Chemsdine Talbi, he’s in the same boat as Diarra, having yet to feature for Morocco.
The main thing for Sunderland will be to see all of their players return from duty unscathed, though it’s only likely to be Reinildo that does that anytime soon.
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