RLB BELIEVES

Regis Le Bris says Sunderland deserve to be in the play-off final on merit, having been in the top four for basically the whole season. He says the team are ready for the game at Wembley and insists that promotion has been the aim amongst the players since day one.

PROMOTION ALWAYS THE GOAL

"The final will be different but at the same time we are exactly where we wanted to be. I asked them in this very room in my first meeting, what is the purpose of the season? And they told me they wanted to get promoted. Here we are. We'll have this opportunity."

STEPPED UP WITH CONSISTENCY

"I'd just received the information from them, it was tough at that moment to know whether they could do it. You can create this ambition throughout the season. Their faith was really strong. Because they were 16th last season the step could have been a bit high. But when I watched the games from last season it was really obvious this team could play really good football but lacked consistency. For me it was possible to improve consistency through methodology and work in the season."

UPS AND DOWNS

"We went through difficult moments. We haven't won comfortably this season. We've suffered and were ready for another tough game, The ambition and desire. After 48 games we deserve to be here."

MINDSET IS KEY

"We can talk about talent and tactics but one of the strongest qualities of this group is mindset. The way they are connected and how they can manage different emotions. We deserve this fixture. It's not always a question of age, it's a question of connection with the path. You can be 17 and ready or 30 and have a problem to manage the emotions. They seem mature for that event with this togetherness. Our opponent are strong, experienced, have good staff but these are the rules of the final. We won't have an easy game."

BELIEF WAS BUILDING

"It's tough to pick one moment [we believed] that because the season is so long. You can be in the top four, five or six for two thirds of the season and then be ejected. I felt often this team was talented and able to be competitive against the strongest teams in the league but that doesn't mean you can be consistent. You can only judge that at the end of the season. To be competitive in one game, against Burnley in the first game for example when we were really good. Middlesbrough and Leeds as well. It was clear this team can be competitive but can we be consistent? You only know that at the end of the season."

VAR IN USE

“We had a referee speak to the players at the end of last week. The main thing was the offsides, which is a bit different. Sometimes you can be offside and the referee makes a mistake, it can change the difference. Also the way you can defend set pieces in the box is slightly different.”