Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris has made it clear that despite securing a spot in the Championship play-offs following a stalemate at Norwich, there will be no let-up in his team's efforts. However, he did admit he will continue to rest players to keep them in top condition for the finale.
The Black Cats are poised to end the season in fourth place, leaving their remaining five matches without significant consequence for their league standing. However, Le Bris is adamant about maintaining momentum heading into the crucial play-off period.
"Momentum is important in football," he emphasised. "It was something I stressed to the players after the international break and it's good we now have our place in the play-offs.
"It's a great achievement after a long journey – and now we need to keep it going."
Le Bris also sees the secured position as an opportunity to rotate the squad: "The good thing about our position is it gives us a chance to manage the squad, give different players a chance to show what they can do."
With the season drawing to a close, he highlighted the importance of keeping the team fresh: "At this stage of the season freshness is very important so that will be on my mind in the final games. But whatever the team our aim is to finish strongly."
Reflecting on the match against Norwich, Le Bris acknowledged the team's initial struggles but praised their resilience: "We were not at our best early on, didn't use the ball well, and they put us under pressure.
"But I was pleased with the character of the players and the way we defended – and in the second half we were much better."
Norwich dominated the rather uneventful game and missed several prime opportunities to score in the first half.
The best chance fell to top scorer Borja Sainz just 10 minutes in, set up by Marcelino Nunez, but goalkeeper Anthony Patterson – who had initially caused the issue with poor distribution – made amends with a solid save.
Earlier, Anis Ben Slimane narrowly missed the post with a close-range header while Josh Sargent and Jacob Wright were thwarted by further impressive saves from the keeper.
The second half was more evenly matched, with Eliezer Mayenda squandering a good opportunity for the Black Cats, as the match ultimately ended in a stalemate.
Norwich's head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup expressed satisfaction with his team's performance.
"We did more than enough to score early in the match and I was disappointed we didn't take one of our chances," he said.
"We took control early on and I was pleased with some of our play but there were times when we didn't take advantage of good positions and when the crosses could have been better.
"In the second half we dropped off a bit and they caused us a few problems but we defended well and it's another clean sheet at home, which is good."
