Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris insisted his side had to learn harsh lessons from their frustrating 1-0 defeat to Championship strugglers Hull City. The Black Cats boss was left frustrated by the performance – and also saw Enzo Le Fee and Dan Ballard pick up injuries.
The Black Cats have now won just one of their last four home Championship games, but had their chances to take something from today’s encounter. Anthony Patterson made several smart saves, but it was his mistake from former Sunderland loanee Joe Gelhardt’s corner which ultimately proved costly.
“The own goal changed the dynamic of the game because after that the opponent provided different problems. We tried to break the low block and didn’t find the solution,” Le Bris said. “It is a shame because in this kind of game, silly mistakes can change many things. We have to think about these mistakes to improve our game.
“It is not a coincidence (conceding from a set-piece), we have to ask the questions. After that the energy of the group was OK. We tried but it wasn’t enough.
“This was the 34th game of the season. We have a small group. That can be a positive, because everyone is really involved, but at the same time, when we have injuries, we know that we can have a bit of a lack of depth in certain positions.
“That is just the characteristic of the squad this year. There are positives and negatives, we just have to try to manage things properly. I hope to see a reaction. I hope to have the capacity to react.”
For Hull, this was Ruben Selles’ side fourth win from their last five away matches, and he now wants to see that consistency throughout the rest of the campaign.
“It is about us, the next game, our attention to win the game,” Selles said. “This was a fantastic job and we had to show character, be good defensively. The situation is always more difficult if you concede first but the application from the beginning here, we showed we were a threat. It is exceptional and we tried to put them under pressure and we did.
“We have to be ruthless. If we keep defending as we do, especially away from home, then we will do well. Now we have a challenge. We have not been able to back up our results by taking three points in consecutive games. We need to go on Tuesday, perform well, show character and then the score will take care of itself.
“Things happen in football but if we go there with personality and saying ‘nobody wants three points more than us’, that should be the mentality.”
Sunderland take on Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough on Friday night, with Cardiff City next up at the Stadium of Light on Saturday, March 8.
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