, Sunderland, West Ham in ‘consistent’ contact amid Frederik Alves’ game time frustrations

Sunderland, West Ham in ‘consistent’ contact amid Frederik Alves’ game time frustrations

Sunderland boss Lee Johnson has said defender Frederik Alves will be naturally frustrated amid his limited game time.

Since joining Sunderland on loan, Danish centre-back Frederik Alves has seen a limited amount of first-team action.

The West Ham loanee has featured eight times for Lee Johnson’s side, with only two of those outings coming in League One. His last league appearance for the Black Cats came way back in September, playing 34 minutes in Sunderland’s 5-0 win over Cheltenham Town.

READ: Sunderland boss opens up on stance regarding loanee’s future with League Two club

Now, manager Lee Johnson has shown his understanding of Alves’ situation, saying he will be naturally frustrated.

As quoted by Chronicle Live, Johnson also stated the Black Cats are in regular contact with West Ham over the 22-year-old’s situation.

Here’s what he had to say on the matter:

“Naturally he will be a bit frustrated because he hasn’t had as much game time as he would want, but you always have the chance to impress like the other night [against Oldham] or in training.

“The dialogue [between Sunderland and West Ham] is pretty good, pretty consistent.

“We fill out the forms that West Ham want us to fill out in terms of his progression, and all the physical data goes back to them.

“Ricky Martin is the head of their academy and I speak to him on a regular basis, and I speak to David Moyes probably quarterly on that type of stuff.”

, Sunderland, West Ham in ‘consistent’ contact amid Frederik Alves’ game time frustrations

Competition for a starting spot

Callum Doyle, Bailey Wright and Tom Flanagan have been Johnson’s go-to men at the heart of defence so far season. All three played in Sunderland’s 2-1 win over Cambridge United, with Johnson deploying a three-man defence instead of a back four.

It seems unlikely that any of the trio will be dislodged, so Alves will be keen to make the most of any opportunity to impress in a bid to break into Johnson’s side.

More often that not, he has remained an unused substitute in League One, but it awaits to be seen if that changes as the busy festive begins.

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