Régis Le Bris delivered this honest verdict on Sunderland’s performance in QPR draw.
Sunderland secured a battling point against QPR on Saturday afternoon
Régis Le Bris praised Sunderland’s mindset after the earned a point at QPR despite playing the last half hour with ten men.
Jobe Bellingham saw red an hour into the game for a late challenge, but the Black Cats defended resolutely thereafter and limited the hosts to relatively few opportunities through the closing stages.
Le Bris admitted his side hadn’t quite been at their best through the opening hour of the game but was pleased with how they adapted to keep a clean sheet in difficult circumstances.
“I think it is a good point,” Le Bris said.
“A tough game away, this league is very competitive. We had some good periods in the first half where dominated the ball but we struggled when they mixed up the play – sometimes they were in a back three, sometimes a back four. Sometimes they went short, sometimes long, it wasn’t easy to find the right references. It was a balanced first half, we could have played better but it was balanced. We found some details in the first half to solve the problems but then of course we have to play 10 v 11. I think we kept our confidence and there was no panic. We faced it with the right mindset.
“We feel we can feel play better football but to competitive in this league, you have to face many different things and styles of play. We have to ,aster all the phases in the game and today was a good exercise for us. We did well, we didn’t change the structure. We discussed changing it as a staff but the players gave us confidence and so we didn’t touch anything. To take one point [in the end] is good for us.”
Bellingham’s red card potentially hands Le Bris with a big dilemma for the trip to Preston North End on Wednesday night, with Chris Rigg a major doubt after missing Saturday’s game.