00:00Sunderland will not want conceding late goals to become a recurring theme in their bid for
00:07promotion from the Championship. Four points lost in the final few minutes of their previous
00:11two games has allowed Leeds United to join the Blackcats and Sheffield United at the
00:16top of the table.
00:18The results against Coventry and Millwall more recently will clearly have caused great
00:22frustration to Regis Labrice, who has always made clear that defensive salinity provides
00:27the foundations for a team to compete, although the Blackcats do still boast the fourth-best
00:33defensive record in the league.
00:36Labrice outlined that mistakes were made in the build-ups to the goal conceded on Saturday,
00:40but tried to give an explanation for them.
00:43When we analysed the clip back, it was clear that we could score. I'm not sure, but probably
00:53when in that situation, because you expect it to score, probably we had one second, two
01:01seconds and we were a little bit disconnected and we made probably five or six mistakes
01:07in a row. It's too much, really too much. And it's not silly mistakes, but just a question
01:12of disconnection, probably. And at the end, it's a shame because we can make two nil and
01:22then it's a 1-1.
01:24Sunderland's recent form shows four draws in a row, which, given the Blackcats' season
01:28so far, could be categorised as something of a dip. But Labrice was quick to point out
01:33that results could well be worse.
01:37Bad periods are still important to build the foundations, I think. And the way we are managing,
01:46it's not really a bad period. It's a period with less points, probably, and four draws
01:52in a row. But probably we could struggle more. It's possible. We can lose many games. Having
02:00a long sequence of defeats is still possible. And during these periods, I think it's the
02:07right time to refocus on what we are doing properly, what we have to improve, for sure,
02:12but what we are doing properly, what are our qualities.
02:15With January fast approaching and injuries mounting up, Sunderland may consider reinforcements,
02:20although Labrice was keen to defend the versatility of his current crop of players.
02:27Probably we'll have three or four more players available during December. So I don't know
02:34if it should be needed. We'll see. Because I think my main focus and the main focus of
02:39the staff is to enjoy the squad we have, instead of rather than searching for new players
02:48away. Probably we have many, many strengths in our squad. Some of them were injured. So
02:55when they will be available, we'll have many players in many positions.
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