REGIS Le Bris says the fierce battle for competition in Sunderland's midfield will help to keep his key players fresh - and believes the depth will bring the very best out of his stars in the promotion run-in.

As well as Dan Neil, Jobe Bellingham and Chris Rigg, Sunderland now have Salis Abdul Samed available and he will soon be joined by Alan Browne, who played 45 minutes for the Under-21s in Tuesday night's 7-0 win over Huddersfield Town.

The return of Romaine Mundle and Tommy Watson will also result in Enzo Le Fee moving into a central role.

With six players potentially battling for three spots, Le Bris faces some difficult decisions in the weeks ahead.

But he only sees the positives of having so many options - as he told Dan Neil and Jobe Bellingham during a sit-down chat with the pair at the Academy of Light this week.

"Now it's possible with more depth in the squad to manage the game differently," he said.

"I spoke with Jobe and Dan this week for example and said they have played so many games, they've been tired sometimes, in the Boxing Day game for example, but they had to play full games. Now we'll have the option to manage differently, maybe one player can start until the 65th minute then we'll have a fresh player ready to play with full intensity."

"For the younger players especially, it will be very important."

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Will, though, it be difficult to keep all of his midfielders happy?

"Sometimes it's good to be unhappy," said Le Bris.

"Football is like that. If you want to play in the Premier League or Champions League rather than watch it on TV, you will face this problem. This is the life of professional footballers. They need this competition and need depth for the performance of the team."

Sunderland will be boosted by the return of Bellingham for tonight's game against Luton.

Romaine Mundle could also be back in the squad after resuming full training, though Le Bris might opt to wait until next Monday's trip to Leeds.

The head coach is delighted to welcome back one of the stars of the first half of the season, and Watson won't be far behind.

"We need wingers," said Sunderland's head coach.

"We know on the left side right now Enzo is playing that position but it's not his main role.

"With specific wingers, Romaine and Tommy have this personality and style to play in one vs one situations and they are good in the finishing role as well. They will be very important for the next stage of the season."