'You are faced' - Regis Le Bris irritated with West Brom approach as Sunderland solution fades

Head coach Regis Le Bris was left feeling irritated after Sunderland’s 0-0 draw with West Bromwich Albion after his side struggled to break down the Baggies' defensive approach.

The Black Cats' promotion surge stumbled again after the stalemate left them third in the table ahead of a tough trip to Sheffield United on Friday night. Wilson Isidor had a goal disallowed while Patrick Roberts and Chris Rigg came closest to breaking the deadlock but it wasn’t to be.

Sunderland have now drawn their last five games while Albion, who conceded the majority of possession and barely threatened Anthony Patterson's goal, can beat that – being all square in eight of their last nine matches. And while Le Bris praised West Brom's display, he was left disappointed that Sunderland didn't find the right solution in their own approach to break them down.

“I think we deserved more,” said Le Bris. “It’s a good sign for us, against a good side we had a tough challenge and I think we dominated that game.

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“It was interesting the way we pressed and for the man-for-mans when we defended. We solved many problems in the first half especially and we created some chances. We had probably four or five situations to score and we didn’t score and I think the team is a little bit disappointed because we thought it was possible to win.”

He continued: “We can improve many things and the final third is the most difficult part of the pitch. You are faced with a back five and they defended well.

“They were well-organised with our triangles and with the speed of our ball and so on. In that situation we still need to be very creative in our choices and maybe our crosses and shots and counter presses we could improve on and we had lots of set-pieces and we didn’t score. We have to try again and keep working.”

There was much to be positive about for Le Bris and he added: “This challenge showed us that we are getting better in many areas of our game. And now we know exactly how we built these foundations, we are expecting more.

"It’s a good sign. At the end the players were disappointed and I was too. We need to keep going as the league is so long. The foundations are good for the culture and we have another challenge quickly.”

There’s no respite for the Black Cats as they travel to Sheffield United, in another game live on Sky Sports.

“I’m very excited again,” said Le Bris. “This league is very competitive with many strong teams and different styles of play and we have to adapt our style and manage different situations. We are still a young team and getting more experience but we have to learn quickly so this is our challenge.”