Sunderland's Aji Alese made his comeback from injury against Arsenal U21

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

19 Dec 2023, 06:00 by James Hunter · ChronicleLive

Timothee Pembele made his first appearance in a Sunderland shirt as one of three long-term casualties who made their comebacks for the U21s in front of new head coach Michael Beale at Eppleton. Summer signing from Paris St-Germain Pembele started and played the first half of last night's 2-1 Premier League 2 defeat against Arsenal.

Meanwhile Aji Alese and Jay Matete made their first appearances of the season, coming off the bench for the second period. Right-back Pembele had not featured at all since joining in the summer as he continued his comeback from a serious knee injury picked up in France, but he looked sharp, albeit against a young Gunners side.

Midfielder Matete had been out of action since undergoing surgery after damaging knee cartilage on the club's pre-season trip to the USA, 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. U21 coach Graeme Murty said Sunderland had to take a cautious approach with the trio after so long out, but says they will be a big asset to the first team squad when they are fully up to speed.

"The plan was always to give them 45 minutes, always to give them exactly what they needed," said Murty. "When coming into something like that you have to be really, really, cautious and careful that you manage load properly.

"Our first team staff have been excellent on giving us specific intructions. Those guys have trained with us from time to time so we know them and they drop in with good attitude.

"We know that this game wasn't the be-all and end-all for them, something in the future is what they are looking forward to, going on and representing the first team. We know that's always going to be the case and we support that fully, so as long as we can be a vehcle to make that happen then we are willing to do that.

"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 known quantities, this was the first opportunity that Sunderland fans have had to see Pembele in action and he impressed in the first period. Murty said: "He was on the far side of the pitch to me so I''m quite cautious about looking at it, but as a full-back you look at his attributes - he is lightning quick, he is quite a rangy athlete and he possesses really, really, good recovery and acceleration speeds.

"All the things you need to be a modern athlete are there in abundance so we need to make sure that we give him the proper levels to get him back towards being at the top of his physicality. If he does that, he enhances the squad and adds to the competition."