Headcoach of Lorient Regis LE BRIS during the Ligue 1 Uber Eats match between Lille OSC and FC Lorient at Stade Pierre Mauroy on January 14, 2024 in Lille, France. (Photo by Daniel Derajinski/Icon Sport)
Sunderland lost against Watford on Saturday in the Championship with some key stories emerging before, during and after the game.
Watford took the lead in the first half through Festy Ebosele and could have fallen further behind at various points in the opening 45 with the home side well on top for the majority. After the break, Isidor netted an equaliser for Sunderland after turning home Patrick Roberts’ superb cross to level the scores with 48 minutes played.
With the game heading towards a draw, Dan Neil gave away a penalty, which was scored by Tom Dele-Bashiru, which turned out to be the winner on the day as the Black Cats succumbed to a 2-1 defeat in the Championship away from home.
Here, we take a look at the moments you may have missed against Watford including news of a potential triple injury boost ahead of Derby County:
Le Bris’ under-the-radar injury boost
The headline news from Sunderland’s starting XI to face Watford was the omissions of Dan Ballard and Eliezer Mayenda. However, Le Bris was boosted by the return of Zak Johnson.
Johnson had picked up a training ground niggle earlier this month and missed all of Sunderland’s under-21s and first-team games this month but was drafted back in for the game at Vicarage Road.
