Regis Le Bris will use the international break as a “reset before the final sprint” as he looks to lead his Sunderland side to the Premier League. The Black Cats head coach says the team has a clean bill of health – except for Leo Hjelde who needs a few days rest from an injury – for Saturday’s visit to Coventry City.
The focus is to win that game and then use the break to the team’s advantage before facing Millwall at home on March 29.
“Yes we will have an opportunity to reset with the international break and after that it will be like a sprint in the end during April and May,” said Le Bris. “So it will be a good opportunity to reset, to think about new ideas and to connect with the project. So far the players did very well. We improved a lot this season, we have had downs and many ups too. There is a good connection with the game model and a willingness to improve every day.
“We have shown good resilience so it wasn’t difficult to manage this team so far. I really appreciate it. For the squad and the culture of the team we are in a good place. Now it’s about the management of the players and the way they can manage different issues, and ups and downs. Being very good could be an issue.
“Because when the downs come, when you had some good periods before, it can be difficult. You can live a different period sometimes and it’s not easy because of your confidence and you are desperate to play well again and you can become impatient, and maybe a bit, not selfish, but disconnected with the team. We could be in that period with some of them and we have to manage that properly because this last stage is very important for us.”
It is likely the club will be in the Championship play-offs and momentum is key in the last nine games leading into what could be an intense situation.
“It’s very important, these three potential games [play-offs], are so tight and so difficult that if we are not in our best shape we will fail for sure,” he added. “So it’s very important to build strong momentum during this last month. I think it’s possible. Early in the season the landscape wasn’t this one, we can forget how far this team has come, it’s done very well. It’s a very young team, the youngest in the league so it’s a normal scenario to have ups and downs.
“The most powerful experiences are the bad ones. It’s more difficult to understand for the younger ones that when you are at the top it’s fragile. You have to live it. Last month we had ups and downs and we reacted well and I hope it will be the case for the rest of the season.”
View news Source: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/sunderland-hit-reset-regis-le-31194888
