"Difficult" - Regis Le Bris drops honest Sunderland AFC message after PNE draw | OneFootball

The Black Cats failed to win one out of two league games for the first time this season on Wednesday.

Regis Le Bris admitted that he felt Sunderland were lucky to get a point from their game against Preston North End.

A much changed Black Cats team took to the field to face the Lilywhites at Deepdale on Wednesday evening. When you think about the traditional, or usual, Sunderland team of the last couple of seasons, many of the staples - Anthony Patterson, Dan Ballard and Patrick Roberts - were missing from the starting XI.

First league starts for the club were handed to Aaron Connolly and 18-year-old Tommy Watson; neither were able to have much effect on the game, which ended in a 0-0 draw.

Le Bris made these changes, some of which were enforced due to injury, with an eye looking ahead to the future. He said that he understands that rotation will be needed at points to be able to get the team through until the end of the campaign, and he clearly trusts the depth of his squad.

But, despite his faith in the lesser used players, they weren't able to get Sunderland back to the performance levels that they had showed before their last game - another 0-0 draw against Queens Park Rangers.

This is the first time all season that Sunderland have failed to win in successive league matches, and it's their first back-to-back draws of the campaign too. Le Bris feels his side were fortunate to come away with a point though.

Regis Le Bris admits Sunderland were lucky to get a draw

The French head coach agreed, when speaking to Sky Sports after the game, that his side didn't necessarily do enough to deserve the point that they walked away from Lancashire with.

He said, on whether Sunderland were lucky: "Yes, probably. Especially during the first half because we struggled in both phases, in possession and out of possession. It was very difficult.

"We didn't control the game at all, but sometimes it's possible and we didn't concede a goal so we were still in the match. And I think during the second half the game changed and it was much better. Not the perfect play that we would like to play, but it was much better. So it shows that every game in the league is very competitive, especially away.

"We know exactly what we have to improve, today it was clearly the way we can press and the way we can be under pressure. So it wasn't good enough, but it was still one point and the boys they ran until the end to protect our goal.

"When we had an opportunity we tried to score, and it was possible during the 20 minutes, I think, we were able to score. But at the end it's not a bad point for us."

Sunderland captain Luke O'Nien agreed with his boss' assessment of the game. The defender wasn't happy with the point, but praised his teammates for the character they showed, and the travelling supporters for their efforts, again, too.

Le Bris was happy to see that his players weren't satisfied with a point, stating that this shows how much higher their standards have become in just a few months.

Blips and dips are normal for promotion-chasing teams in this league

It's rare that a team comes along in this league and easily walks it. Even the hotly contested promotion battle of last season saw the four battling teams go through peaks and troughs.

The important thing is that, despite not playing that well, and being a man down for the final half an hour of their previous game against QPR, Sunderland have got through this week on the road without another L on their record.

Making a habit of picking up points when you maybe shouldn't is not a bad thing, especially when you're fighting for the top spots. And, hey, they're still top of the league by a couple of points. It's now about the reaction that the players give in the upcoming games.