Le Bris 'at his brilliant best' to mastermind derby win
[BBC] [Getty Images] Leading up to Sunday's derby at Newcastle, all the talk centred around which of our injured players might be available and it ended up becoming a bit of a distraction from what was actually important - the players who were definitely fit to play their part. While I'm sure Regis le Bris would have loved a fully fit squad, he is not daft enough to get too distracted by the possibilities of having several of his walking wounded involved at the last minute. Instead, he had to work on a gameplan that did not involve any of them so, in most cases, the lads who did pass late fitness tests were only ever destined for a spot on the bench.
That was absolutely crucial. It meant that while Newcastle were distracted by European football, we were on the training ground figuring out how we were going to walk away from St James' Park with three points. What we saw was, yet again, Le Bris at his brilliant best.
He got it spot on once more. His counterpart in the opposition dugout had no answers to what Sunderland had to offer and the longer the game went on, there was only one team capable of winning it. Sunderland's players were outstanding.
They all played their part. Despite the massive early setback he and we suffered, Luke O'Nien was absolutely fantastic. The fact he got on with his job when others probably would have wilted spoke volumes of the type of man he is.
Granit Xhaka was back to his best and ran the midfield, ably flanked by Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra. Wingers Chemsdine Talbi and Chris Rigg did not put a foot wrong. Talbi was a goal threat throughout, while Rigg kept Lewis Hall quiet, which many others have been unable to do this season.