Regis Le Bris told to make Enzo Le Fee, Chris Rigg call to inspire Sunderland AFC to "push for second place" | OneFootball

Our Black Cats fan pundit wants to see Romaine Mundle return to the starting eleven in place of Rigg

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...

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has been urged to rest Chris Rigg and bring Romaine Mundle into the starting lineup in his place over the next few Championship games, after the 21-year-old winger returned to the Black Cats' matchday squad on Monday evening for the first time in over three months.

Mundle joined Sunderland in the January window last year, but endured a relatively slow start to life at the Stadium of Light in his first half-season at the club, with just one goal in 11 appearances and five starts.

He has been trusted a lot more by Le Bris this time around though, and was a key man for the Black Cats in the early stages of the season before suffering a serious hamstring injury against Coventry City in November that has seen him sidelined up until now.

Fellow Sunderland youngster Rigg has managed to avoid injury this season, which has seen him play a part in all but four of the club's 35 games this season at just 17-years-old.

He is undoubtedly a talented player that will go on to achieve big things in the game if he continues his progress at the same speed, but boss Le Bris has now been told to allow him some time out of the starting eleven as the Black Cats look to stay in the race for automatic promotion.

Sunderland urged to make Mundle, Rigg, Le Fee switch

London-born Mundle's star turns in the opening stages of this season included winners against both Burnley and Luton Town, further strikes against Portsmouth and Plymouth Argyle, as well as a brace of assists on the fateful day he got injured against Coventry.

He is at his best off the left-wing, but has seen strong competition for his place arrive in January in the form of on-loan Roma midfielder Enzo Le Fee. The Frenchman is a central attacking midfielder by trade, but has mostly been played on the left side of attack since his arrival last month.

Rigg, meanwhile, has continued to be preferred as the most advanced player in the centre of midfield by Le Bris, but with Mundle now ready to play again, FLW's Sunderland fan pundit,

Jordan Newcombe, has urged the Black Cats' head-coach to rest the 17-year-old and move Le Fee to the centre to accommodate his newly-fit winger in the starting eleven.

“With Romaine Mundle being back in contention, he really should have played against Leeds on Monday,” Jordan told FLW.

“It was the substitutions, in my opinion, that went wrong. We brought Ian Poveda on, which just wasn’t it, and Salis Abdul Samed, who just wasn’t it.

“Chris Rigg should have come off to bring Mundle on and play him on the left wing, so it would have been a three of Eliezer Mayenda on the right, Enzo Le Fee in the middle and Mundle on the left.

“I think Rigg now needs a rest. He’s played loads of games and has worn himself out a little bit, so now we need to make that change properly and play Mundle instead of him, and put Le Fee in Rigg’s position, a more attacking midfield role.

“If he wants to stick with Le Fee on the left wing, then bring Mayenda into attacking midfield. He tends to do well there and not feel as much pressure to score.

“That would mean dropping Patrick Roberts and playing Mundle on the right side though, so for now, for me, we need to take Rigg out and start Mundle on the left.

“(Attacking midfield) is Le Fee’s natural position, that’s where we’re going to get the most out of him and get more results from.

“If we make these changes, then I don’t see why we can’t push for second place. There are 13 games left with points to play for, and if results go our way, which is a big ‘if’, all we have to rely on is Sheffield United or Burnley losing or getting silly draws for us to come second.

“It’s not over yet. It’ll not be over until a certain few games happen and results don’t go our way.

“It might happen or it might not. We shouldn’t write it off just yet. With the team that I’ve just specified there, where Rigg is getting rested and Mundle is back in as a natural winger, with Le Fee in his natural position, who says we can’t push for that?

“That is the best team that we can go out with. It has pace, skill, and mostly, passion for the club. Mundle will help by driving upfield and giving Dennis Cirkin that extra time to cut inside.

“Mundle is a massive part of the club and our team, and for him to be back in contention with a few games left, where it is still everything to play for, we need to go for it. Stick him in, drop the players that need rest.”

Rigg's recent performances give Le Bris a reason to drop him for Mundle

Rigg is a superstar in the making and has been pivotal to the Black Cats' surprise promotion push this season, but is understandably looking somewhat burnt out at this stage of the campaign after playing over 2,200 minutes in the Championship so far at just 17-years-old.

He has not contributed to a goal in any of Sunderland's previous 10 outings, and Le Bris did move to drop him from the starting eleven for the trip to Plymouth Argyle last month, but has then played him from the off in the next four games.

The England youth international found it tougher than ever to get a foothold in midfield against Leeds last time out, and according to FotMob, he failed to create a chance or even take a shot at goal, while completing only 14 passes and touching the ball 26 times in his 76 minutes on the pitch at Elland Road.

Mundle offers a different dimension to the Black Cats' attack when he is fit and firing, as he is much more of an out-and-out winger compared to Le Fee, and is not afraid to take players on to create chances. He possesses a different skill-set to pretty much every player in Le Bris' squad, maybe other than Patrick Roberts, who starts on the right-wing more often than not.

Sunderland's 2-1 loss to Leeds is not a huge cause for concern, as they were unlucky to concede two late goals against the league leaders, and it was their first league defeat in 2025 so far. What will have been clear to Le Bris, though, is that some of his key men, such as Rigg, were not as impactful as they needed to be throughout the game.

With that said, the visit of struggling Hull City to the Stadium of Light this weekend does seem like the ideal time to mix it up and hand Mundle a starting berth as he looks to return to full match fitness ahead of a vital few months, as well as give young Rigg some much-needed rest.