Regis Le Bris is enjoying an impressive start to life as Sunderland manger.
Few knew what to expect from Regis Le Bris during the early stages of his Sunderland tenure.
And fewer expected him to win his opening three Championship games in charge, doing so without conceding a single goal.
Sunderland beat Burnley 1-0 on Saturday afternoon courtesy of a goal from Romaine Mundle.
Mundle’s goal is perfect timing with Jack Clarke set to join Ipswich Town, and Mundle expected to step up in Clarke’s absence.
The Black Cats now sit in 1st place of the Championship table after beating Burnley who sat in 1st going into this weekend.
It was another well-rounded performance from the Black Cats with impressive individual performances across the pitch.
Sunderland fans were impressed by Mundle on his first start of the season.
Elsewhere, Dennis Cirkin impressed once again on that left-back role, with Chris Rigg also catching the eye for another exciting performance.
But Aji Alese in defence may be due some rare praise.
Aji Alese impresses during Sunderland 1-0 Burnley
Alese, 23, made just eight Championship appearances last season, as injury kept him out for the bulk of the campaign.
Despite that, Sunderland handed Alese a new contract, and the injury to Dan Ballard has meant that Alese has started at centre-back alongside Luke O’Nien so far this season.
Sunderland Echo gave Alese a 9/10 rating vs Burnley, adding:
“Might go under the radar but shouldn’t. Great recovery pace, won just about every challenge he went in for and was defensively sound from minute one to ninety.
“Going to be hard to push him out of the team.”
Alese recorded two clearances vs Burnley, with one block to his name as well.
The Englishman also had 63 touches of the ball and made 49 accurate passes (both the second-most of any Sunderland player).
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Regis Le Bris heading towards Sunderland selection headache
Alese has perhaps done better than expected in the heart of the Sunderland defence this season.
Likewise, Sunderland and Le Bris have done better than expected. But they’re showing no signs of slowing down just yet.
With Ballard thought to be nearing a return to action in the coming weeks, it’ll give Le Bris a tough selection call to make.
Ballard is arguably the club’s best central defender. But it’s tough to drop one of Alese or O’Nien right now, with both impressing.
O’Nien brings leadership and experience to the side but Alese is the natural defender, and he was perhaps more impressive than O’Nien vs Burnley.
So for Le Bris, it’ll present a tough selection call, but it’s a nice problem to have nonetheless.
Up next for Sunderland is a long-haul trip to Portsmouth in the Championship next weekend.