"The worst thing" - Alarming Sunderland AFC issue raised amid Trai Hume, Dennis Cirkin concerns | OneFootball

The Black Cats have struggled with their backline of late, and FLW's fan pundit has voiced his concerns

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

With an eleven-point gap to the top two, and a 12-point buffer in the play-off places, Sunderland seem to have fourth-place sewn up with eight games left to play in the Championship season.

The Black Cats have seen their automatic promotion hopes take a huge knock over recent weeks, with only four wins from their last ten league games resulting in the leading trio racing out of sight.

Regis Le Bris’ side have shown a frailty that wasn’t apparent at the start of the season, which has cast doubt on their credentials as a promotion-chasing side, with a leaky defence starting to cause them problems.

With that in mind, we asked Football League World’s Sunderland fan pundit Jordan Newcombe what he considers his side’s biggest weakness right now, as we head into the final few matches of the season.

Sunderland injury issues are cause for concern heading into Championship run-in

The Wearsiders have gone from being a sturdy defensive side to a unit that has leaked goals on a regular basis of late, with nine goals conceded in their last six league games.

With just one clean sheet in the last ten Championship outings, it is clear to see where the problem lies for Le Bris as his side falter in the second-half of the season, with injuries taking their toll on a number of first-team players.

Trai Hume is the latest to suffer a setback, with the full-back pulling out of the Northern Ireland squad with a hip injury, while Dennis Cirkin withdrew from international duty with an issue of his own.

With players dropping like flies, Le Bris has had to mix and match at the back over the last few weeks, and Newcombe believes that side of the game has become an issue for his side of late, when asked about the most concerning part of the club.

Mackems fan pundit Jordan said: “The biggest weakness right now is conceding last minute goals, not winning goals, and injuries… especially the injuries.

In the last week and a half we have had Hume get pulled out and Cirkin get pulled out, and surprisingly enough, that also links with the last-minute goals - the defence reeks of bad decisions.

“With injuries to our best defenders it looks to be a backline of Hjelde, Mepham, O’Nien and Seelt, with Seelt just coming back from injury as well, so I’m not sure how that is going to play out.

“I know Hjelde picked up a knock and he is due back, Mepham and O’Nien always have a little nibble but they always end up playing on, so I would say right now the biggest weakness is the defence.”

Defensive issues continue to haunt Sunderland amid Championship promotion push

Sunderland’s issues seemed to begin back in January, as lowly Plymouth Argyle struck late to claim a 2-2 draw at the Stadium of Light, with the defence looking at sixes and sevens as Nathanael Ogbeta struck to earn the Pilgrims a point in stoppage time.

Since then, the Black Cats have dropped points at home against Watford and Hull City, while also throwing away a lead against league leaders Leeds United, as Pascal Struijk’s late brace turned things around at Elland Road.

A 1-1 draw with Preston North End was followed by a humbling 3-0 reverse at Coventry City heading into the international break, with the Sky Blues now their nearest competitors in the play-off places.

While a place in the top six looks likely, Newcombe is far from convinced right now, and demands his side turn things around in the final few weeks of the season, with the chance to build momentum before the end-of-season lottery begins.

Jordan continued: “Obviously, with the injuries and the fact that we are losing to last minute winners or conceding equalisers, it makes it more painful from outside, because we have put two of our weaker defenders into the mix due to injury, and now that is happening, it is probably the worst thing to happen right now.

“Especially as we try to stay in the play-offs, with teams coming fast, that gap is not going to stay wide for long if we keep losing games, and it is something we are going to have to pick up on and try to get the defenders we have got up to speed.

“If we don’t sort it out, this season is going to end up as a failure.”