Sunderland: Le Bris optimistic over Sadiki and Alderete injuries

• Last Update: October 16, 2025 02:06:30 pm BST • 3 min read

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has received “positive” assessments on injuries sustained by Noah Sadiki and Omar Alderete on international duty but said it was too early to say whether the pair will be fit for Saturday’s game with Wolves.

Sadiki had to withdraw from the DR Congo squad that played in World Cup qualifying in midweek while Alderete suffered an undisclosed muscle problem in Paraguay’s international friendly defeat against South Korea.

Both men have made impressive starts to their careers on Wearside and there were fears they could be sidelined for significant periods of time.

Sadiki and Alderete could be fit for the weekend

However, Le Bris indicated neither had suffered a major setback and they could even be fit for the weekend clash at the Stadium of Light.

On midfielder Sadiki, he said: “We checked Noah yesterday and he seems okay. We will see after the training sessions, today and tomorrow, if he will be available for this weekend – but we are positive.

“It’s still possible that his injury is worse than we think but, at the minute, he is okay. He has had this injury before so he knows how it evolves and how serious it is. It’s positive at the minute, but we will see.”

He added on former Girona centre-half Alderete: “Omar has just come off a 20-hour flight, so we will see. We will assess him again this afternoon. We already had a chat with him yesterday which was positive. We just have to wait a bit to assess him.”

Their availability could be key for a Sunderland side that has looked relatively comfortable on their return to the top-flight, even if their momentum stalled slightly with a 2-0 defeat at Manchester United prior to the international break.

Wolves will provide another indication as to Sunderland’s progress. Vitor Pereira’s side have yet to win in the Premier League this season but have performed well in their last two games and only been denied victories by late goals from Spurs and Brighton.

Le Bris said: “They struggled at the start of this season, but they have shown that they are really competitive in their last two games. They didn’t win, but they deserved to win against Brighton and Tottenham because they played well.

“They have good players, good energy and they are well coached. This is just the way of the Premier League, you can struggle even if you’re strong. If you don’t catch your opportunities then you will be punished, so I hope we will be able to score twice and win this game.

“I do expect it to be a tough challenge.”

Ballard likely to be involved for Sunderland

Northern Ireland defender Dan Ballard is likely to play a part on Saturday, particularly if Alderete is ruled out, and will hope to build on a man-of-the-match display against Germany in midweek.

“He was really close to our squad at the start of this season, but after that he got an injury and another player came in and played well,” said Le Bris. “It was good news for our squad because competition is needed at this level to push the players.

“He plays at a high level and he is always ready to play, so that’s always a positive for a manager.”