Le Bris 'proud' of Sunderland's muted celebrations

BBC News

12-05-2025

Regis Le Bris said his players' measured celebration following their Championship play-off first leg win at Coventry City made him "really proud".The Black Cats won 2-1 at the CBS Arena on Friday night to give themselves an advantage ahead of Tuesday night's home leg.Sunderland fans celebrated an important victory - their first at Coventry for 40 years - but the players kept their distance from the away end other than applauding the 2,800 Mackems for their support.Some Coventry fans felt the Sunderland celebrations were over the top with another 90 minutes to play, but Le Bris said: "It wasn't the case for the players. I was really proud of this reaction because we didn't manage anything - it came from them. They were really aware that [the scoreline was] good stuff, but it doesn't mean the result is over."We need to finish the two legs and see at the end if we are the winners."In my mind we have to win this game, to start like the first game, with exactly the same mindset because in these events, unpredictability is everywhere and trying to protect something is not a good mindset."The Sunderland boss said that winger Romaine Mundle is set to return from a hamstring injury for the second leg as his team bid for a place at Wembley against the winners of the other semi-final between Sheffield United and Bristol City.
'We felt something change'
He also said that he sensed his team had awakened from the slumber that saw them end the regular season with five straight defeats.That run had Sunderland fans fearing the worst against the in-form Sky Blues but Le Bris' team rediscovered their form at the right moment and he said he sensed an increase in intensity during training well before the trip to the Midlands."We secured the play-offs early and after that it was impossible to chase automatic promotion, and when you're not connected with a specific goal it's more difficult," he said."We showed at Coventry it's different now. It started maybe three weeks ago, we felt something change in the training session."[The players] weren't comfortable with the defeats but were comfortable from the big games we had before, this season and the season before."That experience is really important for big games because you build something in for when you need to connect in important games."To be able to switch on like we did at Coventry shows the strength of the squad and highlights the whole season. Now we have to finish the work."