Sunderland receive triple injury boost as three long-term casualties return to action

Timothee Pembele, Aji Alese, and Jay Matete, each played 45 minutes for Sunderland U21s against Arsenal

Timothee Pembele made his Sunderland debut as one of three long-term absentees who made their U21 debuts in front of new head coach Michael Beale at Eppleton. Pembele, a summer transfer from Paris St-Germain, started and played the first half of Arsenal’s 2-1 Premier League 2 defeat yesterday night.

Meanwhile, Aji Alese and Jay Matete made their season debuts, coming off the bench in the second quarter. Pembele had not played since coming in the summer as he recovered from a nasty knee injury sustained in France, but he looked bright, albeit against a young Gunners side.

Matete had been sidelined since undergoing surgery after injuring his knee cartilage during the club’s pre-season vacation to the United States, while Alese had not played since suffering a recurrence of a thigh injury in Sunderland’s play-off semi-final second leg defeat at Luton Town. Sunderland U21 coach Graeme Murty said the trio had to be cautious after such a long absence, but that they will be a valuable asset to the first team side once completely recovered.

 

 

“The plan was always to give them 45 minutes, always to give them exactly what they needed,” Murty added. “When entering something like that, you have to be extremely cautious and careful to manage load properly.”

“Our first team personnel has been fantastic at providing us with clear instructions. Those people have trained with us on occasion, so we recognize them, and they always arrive on time.

“We know that this game wasn’t the be-all and end-all for them; they’re looking forward to going on and representing the first team in the future.” We know that will always be the case, and we totally support it, so as long as we can be a vehicle to make it happen, we are willing to do so.

“It’s great to see those guys back out on the pitch because they add to and enhance the first team squad and we’re thrilled to get them back throughout their process because it has been a really long, really challenging, time for them.”

While Alese and Matete are well-known names, this was the first time Sunderland supporters saw Pembele in action, and he impressed in the first period. “He was on the far side of the pitch to me, so I”m quite cautious about looking at it,” Murty explained, “but as a full-back you look at his attributes – he is lightning quick, quite a rangy athlete, and he possesses really, really, good recovery and acceleration speeds.”

“Everything you need to be a modern athlete is abundant, so we need to make sure we give him the proper levels to get him back to the top of his physicality.” If he accomplishes so, he strengthens the team and contributes to the competition.”