Régis Le Bris delivers honest verdict on Sunderland win and explains where he wants to see improvement

Regis Le Bris insists that his Sunderland side still have much to improve on despite going top of the Championship on Tuesday night.

Goals from Jobe Bellingham and Wilson Isidor either side of half time secured a 2-0 win over Derby County at the Stadium of Light, which saw the Black Cats climb into first following Middlesbrough’s win over West Brom. Le Bris was pleased with the defensive discipline his side showed late on in particular but says he feels there is still more to come in possession.

"It was another tough game and I think our first half was good even if we can have more control of the game, especially in possession," he said.

"We scored after a high recovery and in this kind of game it is very important to score first. We scored quickly after half time and then the game became more chaotic because they wanted to unbalance us with direct play and were very strong in duels. We kept our discipline and that shape is our foundation. We were strong at set pieces because they are very good in this area. We had a good level of discipline. It's another win at home. I would like to be more dominant in possession because we have the quality to do that, so we will work on it.

“It was a really good strike from Jobe, he is able to produce this kind of goal. Maybe during the first half we had many situations where we could have kept it a bit more simple, we tried to make another dribble or make another pass instead of crossing for example. The relationship between players in the final third wasn’t so good, so we need to work on that side of our game. But in this kind of game, you just need to find a solution and we were able to do that.

“It’s a good sign that we win not at our best, especially at home and after a defeat. So the mentality of the group is good, I said before the game we need to trust the model and the learning process. We are still in the process and we learning from our experiences, good and bad. I think after twelve, fifteen games we will have a better foundation, we are still in that process.”

Sunderland face a huge test of their promotion credentials when Leeds United visit the Stadium of Light on Friday night.