Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris was set to hold two separate meetings with his players early this week to pick the bones out of the disappointing draws with Preston and Coventry City.
And while the head coach admits elements of both performances contributed to a “low point,” he will stress the need for perspective and tell his players how proud he is of their efforts in the early stages of the campaign.
The Black Cats headed into the third international break of the season still top of the championship but without a win in three after draws against QPR, Preston, and Coventry.
Rangers and North End are both struggling at the bottom end of the division and suffered bad defeats after their draw against Sunderland, highlighting missed opportunities for the Black Cats.
And Le Bris’ side were 2-0 up and coasting to a victory against Coventry last time out before collapsing in the second half and dropping two points.
Le Bris will take possible fatigue into account when assessing the Coventry game, with Sunderland’s squad having been stretched by injuries and setbacks in the last couple of weeks. But he won’t use that as an excuse and thinks an “inability to solve problems in real time” cost his side on Saturday.
Rediscovering consistency when it comes to performances is Le Bris’ priority during the fortnight stoppage, but he is also keen to ensure there’s no over-reaction.
Sunderland remain top, after all, and are unbeaten in their last eight Championship games.
“Every game is a new opportunity to learn,” said Sunderland’s boss, with a tough trip to in-form Millwall facing the Black Cats after the international break.
“We’ll assess this game and Preston very closely; we’ll have two reviews with the players, and the ideas will be clear.
“We have the first half as well, the way we played. We weren’t able to maintain this quality of performance in the second half; maybe fatigue and maybe the inability to solve problems in real time—an idea that can be clear in our meeting and in the minds of the players, but it is different on the pitch. It is about distances, connections, and timing, and against Coventry we weren’t able to do it in the second half.
“Even if we didn’t have control, we still had the quality to create chances on the counterattack, and we could have killed the game. We have to keep the consistency as a coach, staff, and the fans as well. It is still a good start with 31 points from 15 games.
“The first half showed we have quality; now we have to be more consistent. This is the next challenge for us.
“As a coach, it is very important to keep the right level of emotion because football is unpredictable. Sometimes you deserve to win but you don’t, and sometimes it is the other way.
“Coventry was the result you expect when you play as we did in the first half and then in the second. We have to keep learning; we have a lot of quality to develop and a lot of elements to build on.
“I’m looking forward to that. Even with a bad second half, and we didn’t play well at Preston, we didn’t lose. Even at a low point, the level is not too low.”
