Sunderland may have lost Championship lead but Regis Le Bris knows one huge positive remains

Regis Le Bris is content to look at the positives of Sunderland’s nine-match unbeaten run and he declared, “a long sequence is good because it shows we are consistent but obviously we need to win more games.”

The Black Cats head coach saw his team come through a tough encounter at Millwall without half a team given the injuries and suspensions. While they came within seconds of winning the game, only to draw 1-1, on reflection, Le Bris reckoned it was a decent point.

Now they host West Bromwich Albion, on Tuesday night, hoping to break a sequence of four straight draws to win three points for the first time since beating Oxford United on October 26.

READ MORE: Sunderland can't afford slip as already hampered team facing major selection problem

READ MORE: Sunderland's Chris Rigg 'bound for top club' as Newcastle United told why it won't be them

“A long sequence is good because it shows we are consistent and it’s difficult to beat us,” said Le Bris. “But obviously now we have to win more games. We had suspensions and injuries and we are doing well from a process perspective. Now our willingness is to win and that will continue.

“The main focus is not on the table. It’s good to be high because it means you are competitive and because it means you’ve won games and you have points. It’s not really a bad period but one with less points. It’ possible we could struggle more and have a period of defeats."

Le Bris is boosted by the availability of Jobe Bellingham, Patrick Roberts and Trai Hume, tonight, following their bans while Aji Alese and Eliezer Mayenda both proved their fitness at Millwall. Aaron Connolly limped off in that game after holding his left calf having gone done and immediately waved at the bench for attention. So there must be a doubt.

Le Bris relishes the options he now has with big players returning and said: “They are good questions for me [who to play]. Because of long sequences of games, if we can have versatile players and many options available, we can look at our bench and say, ‘we are comfortable to use that option because we used it before and it was good.’

“It is good for the coach and I think now the players are comfortable with that idea as well. They know if we want to achieve our goal of being in the top six at the end of the season, we need to be a strong team but not 11 players, more like 16 or 17 players, so we need competition in every position.

“We need versatility, we need different options and the job of the coach and the staff is to select the right starting XI against, [firstly] Millwall then West Brom and against Sheffield United. We know everyone is confident in that team and when you are on the bench you know you will get the opportunity to play later.”

Le Bris picked out Mayenda at Millwall as surprising him and he explained: “He played on the right wing and I didn’t expect anything and he did very well. Then Aaron Connolly played as a 10 and in the first half we played as an experienced team with good balance.

“Obviously we should have scored a second goal but it was a good game and good performance. It was good for the depth of the squad and we know we need a strong core. Not only 11 but 16 ot 17 to play and then important subs ready to play.

He added: “We have had four draws in a row, we could have won two more but in the end, for the process, I think we are going in the right direction.”

Asked whether the players were disappointed after Millwall and whether they could pick themselves up he said: “They were disappointed but it lasted five or six minutes. Then they know we have to focus on the next game.

“We’ve lost four points in the last minutes of the games. But against Millwall maybe before the game we wouldn’t have expected that level of performance with all the changes. We should have scored to make it 2-0 at the end, then they make it 1-1. That’s football. We didn’t score, we had the opportunity, and then instead of 2-0 it’s 1-1.”

Former Sunderland striker Josh Maja will return for Albion and Le Bris smiled: “He did well before here and he probably will play well against us. He’s a good striker, very smart, a good finisher and he will be a threat against us for sure. But we are happy and looking forward to playing at home. It’s like our house, we really enjoy playing at home. It’s tough again but we are excited to play against strong opponents, a smart team, good opponents, and it’s a good challenge for us.”