Sunderland Head Coach Régis Le Bris has said that he is focused only on his side, despite Leeds above them dropping points, and is remaining balanced on the automatic promotion situation. Daniel Wales reports.
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00:00Despite Championship strugglers Cardiff levelling the game against Sunderland on Saturday, the Black Cats found it within themselves to find a winner late on, to maintain pressure on the three teams above them in the Championship at present.
00:14Leeds United's away loss at Portsmouth meant that Sunderland are eight points behind the Whites and Sheffield United and six away from Burnley in third, with ten games left of the league season still to play.
00:27The race at the top of the table could not be tighter with only a handful of games left, with Sunderland's victory against Cardiff being exactly what they needed to keep themselves in the hunt.
00:37It has been in games against sides lower down the league that have sometimes hindered Sunderland at home this year, meaning that the positive result against Cardiff was even more than just three points on the board.
00:49It was indeed a much needed confidence boost at a vital time of the campaign.
00:57Naturally, Regis Lebris stipulated that all wins in the Championship are important, and made clear that remaining balanced was the key to being consistent for the remainder of the season.
01:10Yes, every win is important. This one was important. It will be a different scenario, different team. It's like a reset. After every game, we have to reset.
01:27We have to be humble because even if we won before, we'll have a different challenge and we have to play our best football to be our best version of Sunderland.
01:39I don't think we had a lack of confidence after two defeats. At the same time, after two wins, we don't have to be overconfident.
01:52It's still a balanced feeling. In this competition, we always have to give our best and try our best. It will be the case again against Breston.
02:08Sunderland's winning goal against Cardiff came via an unlikely source in defender Chris Mepham.
02:14The on loan Bournemouth man was in the right place at the right time to find the net by latching onto the ball played across goal by Wilson Isidore against the Bluebirds,
02:24with Lebris commenting on how important he has been to the Black Cats' set-up this season, despite not always grabbing all of the headlines.
02:34Everyone is important in the dynamic, I think. For him, I think because of his style, his personality, his experience, it's something we needed in that team.
02:58Everyone is important, but sometimes you can find the right jigsaw, because it was something important for the balance of the squad, for the balance of the back four especially.
03:15Even when he was on the bench, we felt that he was connected and he gave the right example.
03:24Sunderland will have to keep winning and hope for further mistakes from those above them if they are to close the points gaps and really challenge for automatic promotion.
03:34But is this something that Regis Lebris himself is confident of happening, or does he believe that it is perhaps unlikely?
03:44I'm not pessimistic or optimistic. I just want to focus on us.
03:49So if we can win six, seven, eight games until the end of the season, we'll have more chance to be promoted and to be in the top two than if we win only three or four games or even one or two.
04:07So the only focus we have is to win.
04:10Sunderland next will compress the north end to the Stadium of Light, a side who they have already played twice this season, losing against them away in the Carabao Cup before a goalless draw away in the league in November.
04:23Like Cardiff, they are a side sat lower down in the league table, but unlike the Bluebirds, they do not have any real concerns of relegation.
04:31Sunderland will have to box clever if they are to outweight them, and not become frustrated if chances do not immediately turn into goals.