Regis Le Bris has outlined the positives he'll take from Sunderland's 1-0 win over Portsmouth on Sunday, and also explained the half-time substitution of Dennis Cirkin in place of Aji Alese.
EARLY GOAL CHANGED THINGS
"The early goal was important and it opened the game as we expected, but Portsmouth did well with their own direct style of play. They were direct, won second balls and in the first half we struggled to manage this situation."
REMAINED CALM
"When we did that, we felt we could create chances to score. We were not passive but we suffered a little from this part of their game. Second half we did this better, we had 24 shots and some big chances. I was pleased because the team could have lost their emotional control and they didn't."
MANAGE THE GAME
"It was their fifth game in 15 games, and right now we have a short squad. We can't expect a great level of play for the entire game, it's not possible. But we showed that we wanted to win the game, that we were connected even when it was a little bit more difficult and we knew that it would be this way, because they are very good at their own style of play. It's not easy to unbalance this team and at the end, we showed that even despite this we were very connected with the game."
4-4-2
"There are always two phases in the game, and with the extra striker we can have more threat in behind. On the opposite side, we have to control the middle and this is more difficult at the moment. But today, I don't think this was the main problem to solve."
DUG DEEP
"We knew before the game when we analysed them that we would have to control their long balls and the battle around this. We did well with our strengths and we don't have the tallest players in the league, but we were brave and defended together, and in the end we found a solution."
HALF TIME SUB
"Aji was feeling ill, and Dennis was ready so we had that option on the bench."
