Régis Le Bris eyes “challenging” Spurs test after Man City draw

Régis Le Bris has warned Sunderland to expect another “challenging” test when they travel to London to face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, as the Black Cats look to build on their impressive draw with Manchester City.

Sunderland head into the weekend buoyed by Thursday night’s 0-0 result against Manchester City, a performance that extended their unbeaten home run to 10 games and underlined their growing resilience against elite opposition.

Despite the positivity around recent results, Régis Le Bris was quick to stress the physical demands placed on his squad during the festive schedule.

“We are expecting another tough challenge in a great stadium,” Le Bris said. “It’s exciting for the squad, but we have to recover quickly after Thursday’s game against Manchester City.”

With games coming thick and fast, the Sunderland boss admitted decisions on rotation are still open.

“At the minute, I don’t know,” he added. “We will see how people recover.”

Sunday’s opponents, Tottenham Hotspur, sit 12th in the Premier League on 26 points, three behind Sunderland in seventh. Le Bris highlighted both their quality and unpredictability under Thomas Frank.

“Thomas Frank is a great manager who has worked at a high level for a long period of time,” Le Bris said. “They have many good players and are well organised, but probably a bit inconsistent.

“We can’t expect gifts from them, so let’s focus on ourselves. Football is so unpredictable, so the most important thing is for us to play our game.”

Thursday’s draw also saw Eliezer Mayenda make his first start since August, completing the full 90 minutes in a role different to the one he began the season in.

“Eliezer showed he can be at the level in another position,” Le Bris explained. “It was totally different from the start of the season when he played as a striker.

“He played in a hybrid role against Manchester City with important tasks. He has great quality and is still young, so he is learning from different experiences.”

Le Bris also provided reassurance regarding Brian Brobbey, who was withdrawn during the second half against City and replaced by Wilson Isidor.

“Brian was a little bit tight,” he confirmed, “but at the minute it is not serious.”

Sunderland travel to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Sunday at 3pm GMT, looking to translate home resilience into another strong away performance. With momentum building, Le Bris will hope his side can handle the physical demands and continue their push in the top half of the table.

Can Sunderland back up their Man City display with another big result away to Spurs?