Regis Le Bris witnessed his Sunderland side spurn a good chance to make headway at the top of the Championship table, and he now knows what’s needed to get a result against West Bromwich Albion.
Sunderland have been flying high this season, and despite dropping points against Millwall on Saturday evening, the Black Cats are still at the top of the league, albeit on goal difference.
The away team were ahead at The Den after just ten minutes, with Aaron Connolly bagging his first goal for Sunderland.
However, in the dying moments of the game, Regis Le Bris saw Sunderland throw away two points as Millwall grabbed an injury time equaliser.
Sunderland have to be more clinical
Up next for Sunderland is a huge game against West Brom, who occupy sixth place in the Championship right now, but Le Bris knows what his team need to fix if they are to get a win against their promotion rivals.
He told the Sunderland Echo: “We probably could have scored one more goal because we had a lot of situations to exploit… We won the first contact mainly but we struggled with the second ball and to escape the pressure. We did it at times and had many chances to counter.
“We could have scored a second goal but we didn’t and it was a little bit more chaotic. This we have to improve because even when the opponent had strong momentum, we could have broken the dynamic with the ball. It’s a question of maturity and sometimes bravery, we can improve on this.”
Sunderland had six shots on target against Millwall, from a total of 11 shots in the game, but they were unable to kill off the game when they were in the ascendency, and paid the price.
Goals have been an issue for Sunderland this season
While Sunderland have scored 26 goals this season — only Middlesbrough have scored more at 29 — the Black Cats have only scored more than two in a game twice this term, with both instances coming way back in August (the 4-0 win against Sheffield Wednesday and the 3-1 win against Portsmouth).
Consistency is not necessarily an issue. Sunderland have scored two or more goals on nine occasions, but finding that killer instinct to really put a game to bed is clearly costing them points at the moment.
| Sunderland player | Goals scored |
|---|---|
| Wilson Isidor | 5 |
| Romaine Mundle | 4 |
| Chris Rigg | 3 |
| Luke O’Nien | 2 |
| Dennis Cirkin | 2 |
| Jobe Bellingham | 2 |
| Eliezer Mayenda | 2 |
The problem is, Sunderland’s goal returns are spread pretty thin throughout the squad. Wilson Isidor is leading the way with five goals, but the Black Cats are lacking a truly prolific striker they can depend on the change games.
Isidor has been described as ‘horrible’ to play against, and he is a tricky customer indeed when it comes to hold-up play and interplay with his teammates. But, Sunderland now need the likes of Aaron Connolly to chip in more consistently, too, if they are to maintain their push for promotion.