Regis Le Bris guarding against obvious Sunderland worry as 'subtle' difference highlighted

Regis Le Bris will guard against his players easing up as they take on QPR, and insisted, “the dynamic is good but this Championship is very competitive and if we are complacent we know what will happen for sure.”

The Black Cats head coach reckons confidence is high but that can change and games can be decided on “one action, one decision” so he will not allow the team to rest on its laurels. Second-bottom Rangers have won just once and are struggling to score goals – with not one of their 10 outfield players who played in the 0-0 draw at Burnley on the scoresheet this term.

But the fact they grabbed a point at Turf Moor shows they have something and Le Bris said: “It’s always a new experience. So we can build an amount of confidence but it’s like a reset from the first whistle of the game.

"It’s a new team and new experience and even if you have built many things before you have to start again. So you know the difference between victory or defeat is very subtle. Sometimes it's one action, one decision, and at the minute we are not so high to say 'we are sure we will win this game'.”

He added: “It’s an away game. We know they have to win and it’s a good challenge for them so they will have to have that extra energy to play that sort of game. And every team wants to beat the team who is first.

“For sure we will have to be at our best. If we don’t play like that we will struggle. The main concern for us is to improve and keep going in our pathway and workflow.”

Are Sunderland doing better than he expected? “I hadn’t had many expectations because we still had to find out the potential of the team, the way they will adapt to the game model, the training sessions, the link the player will create and the injuries we might have.

"It depends on so many things so it’s very difficult to have expectations. For me it’s just the next game. We know about the league, that we need 90 points, 30 victories. We have 28 at the minute and it’s a good start obviously but I can’t say anything else. I can’t expect anything at the minute. It’s just the next game, to train properly and try and have the biggest group possible with all players involved.”

The fans are happy so far but Le Bris warned: “For the player and club it’s clear and for the crowd they are happy and that’s very important for us.

“But during the game, we don’t have a very clear target for the future. We just try to train and play games and improve and play better and if people like the team that’s okay but for us we have to focus on our jobs.”

With outsiders saying Sunderland are playing the best football he added: “I don’t know what the best football is exactly. Probably the best football is when you are winning. The expression of the team is connected with the identity of the club and creates that connection with the fans. At the minute we win and I watch many teams with very exciting football. They have many qualities. The competition is very strong. It’s a question of a period we did well but many other teams have done well also. We must keep it stable.”