Regis Le Bris insists that despite many seeing the FA Cup as a bit of a distraction from Sunderland's promotion campaign, he will select a strong side and won't ring the changes against Stoke.
RESPECT THE FA CUP
"It’s important for the dynamic, the players, the fans, the history as well. It’s a competition that’s very important and we will play that game 100 per cent.”
WELCOME BREAK FROM CHAMPIONSHIP?
“I don’t know. I’m not sure. We did well across five games. I was really impressed with the output in the end. We are ready to play again. When you get the rhythm and the pace of that it is difficult to rest and restart afterwards. So for me they [the players] showed they were able to play so many games in a row. It was tough but they did it so now they have shown they can play this many games and now it’s time for two or three players to have game time and feel connected with the team."
NOT MUCH ROTATION
“But we won’t make many changes, we want to keep that rhythm. They are ready to play. Probably it’s a good option for injured players or one or two who haven’t played too much and those who played at the end of games to start the game.”
TRANSFER WORK
“For me the main job is to focus on the team. When we have many games, it is focused around the team. Now we are lucky we don’t have to make many changes. A question of two or three specific profiles. The recruitment team is working hard, so before the window we defined, together, what we required for the team and we were clear. Now they can give us the opportunities to watch footage and then we decide, yes we can go further, or no not to. And after that we can have meetings to confirm or discuss about one specific player. This month we will be lighter on games so we will have more time to discuss these profiles.”
LOOKING AHEAD
“Yes the first idea is to be focused on the Championship. After, it is possible to find a player that can be competitive in the Premier League but the main focus is in the next four months.”
ANOTHER STOKE MANAGER
“We know the players but we don’t know how they will play. We know their main threat and we don’t know how they will play in this game. That’s football. You can play five, six, seven times against the same team but it won’t be the same game because the scenario is different and many things can happen. It’s 1-1 between us now and we will find a winner by the end of the game.”
MARK ROBINS
“Probably when you start with a new team you build strong foundations. You always start with a strong defence. He has many good players and they can play good football. They can threaten the space in behind for example. We’ll see. Let’s play our football and keep our ideas. That’s our focus.”
