Sunderland are looking to build on an excellent start to the Premier League campaign this weekend
Régis Le Bris insists Sunderland won't be getting carried away by their strong start to the Premier League and says it is only a matter of time before Manchester United begin to pick up more results.
Sunderland head into Saturday's game at Old Trafford having taken 11 points from six games, four more than Ruben Amorim's side. At his pre-match press conference ahead of the game, Le Bris was asked if internally the players and staff at the club had to stay grounded.
Le Bris joked: "Keep writing it! Absolutely. We have a good balance, many young players with big ambition and more experienced players like Granit, Reinildo, Omar... We share the ambition and we know that we might fail, but it won't be the end of the world. We lost to Burnley and it wasn't a disaster, we were ready straight away to work again. It will happen again, I think. Not too high, too low."
While the general perception is that Sunderland are playing Manchester United at a good time given their ongoing struggles, Le Bris said he was well aware of the quality within Amorim's side.
"We'll see at the end of the game [whether it's a good time to face Manchester United," he said.
"Being at Old Trafford demands strong personality and strong character. I still believe that we'll need to upgrade our performance to be competitive in Manchester. They are strong, create many chances from everywhere, direct play in behind, set pieces, with talented players. Now it’s just a question of click, confidence, circumstances, scenario.
So for us the only thing we can control is our way of playing, the way we want to play this game, to face this challenge, being aware that it will be tough.
"We have to stay humble. We have to respect Manchester United, they have a strong squad. We had this conversation about Aston Villa, they were not at their best but one week later it clicks [against Fulham] and they are at a different level. It could happen for Manchester United any week, and they have won at Old Trafford against Chelsea and Burnley... so this is not a bad team. So we have to stay humble, give our best, and see."
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Why Sunderland's trip to Manchester United is extra special for Régis Le Bris and his family
Le Bris's belief that Old Trafford remains a major test for his side is informed in part by a trip there around a decade ago with his son, who is a big supporter of Amorim's side. It means the game does have extra significance for the Sunderland head coach
"I've been once as a spectator with my son," Le Bris said.
"It was a game against Manchester City, Aguero scored but United won. I need to say that he is a huge fan of Manchester United. He will probably support Sunderland on Saturday, he is sat in the Sunderland end."
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