Sunderland icon identifies promotion rival he fears as Black Cats earn Le Bris praise

Sunderland will head into an away day double header at Queens Park Rangers and Preston North End looking to boost their bid for promotion into the Premier League.

Over seven years have passed since the Black Cats last competed in the top flight and there weren’t many pundits that felt Regis Le Bris’ side could mount a serious challenge for promotion this season. However, with 12 games of the campaign now behind them, Sunderland hold a five-point lead over second placed Burnley and third placed Leeds United after Jobe Bellingham and Wilson Isidor both netted in Saturday’s 2-0 home win against Oxford United.

The Black Cats have faced both of their closest rivals during the opening three months of the campaign after a Romaine Mundle goal saw off Burnley at the Stadium of Light before Le Bris’ men battled to a 2-2 home draw against Leeds United earlier this month in a game memorable for a bizarre late equaliser from summer signing Alan Browne. The likes of Sheffield United, West Bromwich Albion and Blackburn Rovers also remain in the hunt for automatic promotion places - and Black Cats icon Niall Quinn has discussed which side he believes will provide the sternest challenge to his old club in the battle for a place in next season’s Premier League.

Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Black Cats striker and chairman said: “Let’s be honest – Leeds I think look very strong. I think they were really unfortunate not to come away with the three points at the Stadium of Light a few weeks ago, and they’ll be up there. You know when the heel of the hunt arrives, they’ll be knocking on the door, and certainly I would fear them, possibly more so than Burnley.”

Le Bris hails Sunderland adaptability as Black Cats push on

Regis Le Bris has praised his players for their adaptability as Sunderland continue to impress in the Championship.

The former Lorient coach has lost just two of his first 12 league games in charge of the Black Cats and has made a major impact since being named as the somewhat surprise choice to become permanent successor to Michael Beale at the Stadium of Light. Although his squad have impressed in several aspects of their play, Le Bris has pointed to one quality that has stood out for him.

He said: “So far, the results have been good and the consistency is the key. It's the way we can adjust. We have a game plan every time, and sometimes it works well. But football is unpredictable, you can have a different scenario [within the game] and you need to adjust some small details to keep the level and control the game.”

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Financial decision brings an end Black Cats loan deal hopes

Several of Sunderland’s first-team and Under-21s squads are currently spending time on loan at home and abroad.

But one Black Cats youngster has now returned to the club after enjoying a productive one-month loan spell with non-league neighbours Hebburn Town. Goalkeeper Adam Richardson joined the Northern Premier League Premier Division club and made a handful of appearances for Daniel Moore’s side before his temporary stint came to an end with a 4-1 defeat at Macclesfield earlier this month. The Hornets manager had spoken of his hopes to retain Richardson for at least another month - but has now revealed just why those hopes had been dashed.

He told The Echo: “Like all non-league clubs, if we had the money, I'd have loved to have kept him. But you probably know as well as I do that when you've got lads on £150 it's a lot of money to us so it's a shame that we couldn't keep him but he covered our keeper that had a month out and he came in and he's kept us up in the mix for the season going forward.”

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