Le Bris on Ballard, 40-point target and motivation
Sunderland boss Regis le Bris has been speaking to the media before Sunday's Premier League game against Aston Villa at Villa Park (kick-off 14:00). Here are the key lines from his news conference: Le Bris said that centre-back Dan Ballard "is fully fit and he has trained normally this week, so he is available for selection but you have to understand the dynamic of the group and the key for Ballard is to build his fitness levels". On other players, he said: "Nilson [Angulo], Bertrand [Traoré] and Jocelin [Ta Bi] are still sidelined but they are really close to reconnect with the squad maybe around the Forest game.
" On whether he has found a fixed starting 11, Le Bris said: "It's a dynamic first choice of 11. We have spoken to the players around this because it is an important topic. The purpose of the club is to grow and if you want to do this you need depth which means competition in the positions.
It is about our future. This competition allows us to push ourselves. " Sunderland have comfortably passed Le Bris's pre-season points target of 40 and he said: "40 points is an in-reach target put probably the highest points [possible], maybe less but if you want to set the highest standards 40 points is fair.
" Le Bris said earlier in the season that his team's mentality had struggled after an international break, but things are different after the latest one and he said: "We have a positive energy in the team at the minute. " He added: "The approach remains the same and the results are a consequence of daily standouts. It is about the daily ambition and I have felt this week the energy is growing.
" Listen to commentary of Aston Villa v Sunderland from 13:55 GMT on Sunday on 5 Sports Extra and BBC Sounds Follow all of Friday's Premier League news conferences and the rest of the day's football news Got a question about Sunderland? Get in touch here and we'll seek answers from our experts [BBC]