Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris left 'frustrated' by what happened in draw with Bristol City

Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris has admitted he was left "frustrated" by his side's inability to break down Bristol City's "low block" in their 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light.

The Robins looked as if they had secured an important away win over the Black Cats on Tuesday evening, with Luke McNally's second-half strike enough to give Liam Manning's side a one-goal lead heading into injury time.

However, Patrick Roberts managed to cannon a left-footed effort past Max O'Leary with just over a minute left to play to ensure that the points would be shared between the two sides and City wouldn't be able to close the gap to the play-off places.

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Although Black Cats boss Le Bris admitted his side "struggled" to deal with the Robins in the second half after Manning switched to a back five, he felt his side deserved at least a point from the game.

"I think so because we dominated the game," Le Bris said after the full-time whistle. "We started well with a good tempo and the way we wanted to play with many switches, played into the triangles, created chances and we had a lack of players and bodies in the box to receive the crosses.

"I think the first half was a positive and the second half was maybe a little bit different because they changed their shape and they defended in a different way. We expected before the game that it would be an option for them, but we struggled a little bit for 15 or 20 minutes and we were less dominant. They attained some situations, not very dangerous but they were close to our box and finally, on a set play they found a solution and we had the character to score at the end and the equaliser, I think it was deserved.

"Overall the game I think I'm a little bit frustrated because we had the momentum against this low block we struggled to find the right solution."

Tuesday night's draw means that Sunderland sit fourth in the table, four points away from the automatic promotion places and six clear of seventh-placed Middlesbrough who were beaten by Leeds United this week.

However, the Black Cats have only managed to win one of their last eight matches, but Le Bris believes Roberts' late equaliser against Bristol City could be the springboard towards his side rediscovering their winning formula.

"I said in the dressing room at the end of the game that we have to show our ambition," Le Bris explained. "This late equaliser is so important because it shows that we have good character but it was very late.

"Now, if we want to achieve our goal in that league, we need to show that character every day and it's like a desire that we need to have before the training session, during the training session and every day. Probably, this five or 10 per cent that we're missing right now, we have to take the responsibility to find a solution."

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