“It was tough”- Regis Le Bris praises ‘brave’ Sunderland duo after beating Coventry City – They ‘did well’
Regis Le Bris has praised two players after seeing his side take one step close to the Championship play-off final.
Sunderland executed Regis Le Bris‘ game plan against Coventry City perfectly, coming away with a 2-1 win on the night.
Frank Lampard’s men had the majority of possession in the first 45 minutes, but were unable to find a breakthrough.
This was in part due to the man Kevin Phillips praised post-match, Dan Ballard.
The centre-back was superb across the 90 minutes, and it was a good call from Le Bris to bring the stopper back into the starting line-up.
The Frenchman made another big change at the other end of the pitch as well, dropping Chris Rigg to start Eliezer Mayenda alongside Wilson Isidor
Eliezer Mayenda and Wilson Isidor praised by Regis Le Bris after Sunderland beat Coventry City
Fans questioned Mayenda’s passing during the match, suggesting he wasn’t linking up with Isidor enough.
However, Isidor got himself on the scoresheet in the 67th minute before his strike partner netted the winner late on.
Following the match, Le Bris was asked about the efforts of Mayenda against Coventry, with the Sunderland boss going on to praise both his centre-forwards on the day.
Speaking live to Sky Sports post-match, he said: “Yeah, we play with our quality, we are Sunderland, we play with this squad, and they are doing well. We could improve some elements in our game, but we have this strength and we have to use them.
“And today he did well, Wilson did well, they were brave, they were connected with the team.
“It was tough because they didn’t touch many balls.”
Following the match, Le Bris was asked about the efforts of Mayenda against Coventry, with the Sunderland boss going on to praise both his centre-forwards on the day.
Speaking live to Sky Sports post-match, he said: “Yeah, we play with our quality, we are Sunderland, we play with this squad, and they are doing well. We could improve some elements in our game, but we have this strength and we have to use them.
“And today he did well, Wilson did well, they were brave, they were connected with the team.
“It was tough because they didn’t touch many balls.”
Regis Le Bris on Sunderland game plan vs Coventry City
Sunderland’s form going into Friday’s clash has been poor, but their game plan on the night was spot-on.
They bypassed Coventry’s high press and created just enough to score two big goals.
Speaking about the plan for the fixture, Le Bris continued: “The players executed the game plan with discipline, they were a unit, and the willingness to play together.
“We expected more or less the game plan of Coventry because they have good players and good control on the ball.
“The first half was a little bit complicated because we struggled to manage our left side, and they were really good on that side; they overloaded that part of the pitch, and we fixed that problem during half-time.
“The second half was a bit better because we regained different balls, and we felt it was possible to recover the ball in the middle with our threats.”
