The Black Cats lost 2-1 at Ashton Gate, having played more than 80 minutes with 10 men following Trai Hume’s early dismissal.
And while Le Bris was disappointed to leave empty handed, he was keen to point out that if that was a play-off semi-final first leg, Sunderland would be returning to the Stadium of Light still very much in the tie, despite their numerical disadvantage.
There’s every chance Sunderland and Bristol City will meet again in the play-offs, and Le Bris believes the defensive discipline on display at Ashton Gate on Friday bodes well for next month’s challenges.
From an experience point of view, it’s really positive,” said Sunderland’s head coach.
“For the semi finals it’s two games, so in these circumstances you are still right in the game.
“If it’s just 2-1, you go back to your home ground and the game is still open. In this perspective, it was a positive.
“We wanted to win so we are disappointed of course, but we still feel we’re in a good place. We will stick to our plan for the management of the squad.
“We had to defend a lot today and Dan [Neil] showed how flexible, well connected and intelligent he is. This is what we want to be as a team.
“Sometimes you face different challenges, this isn’t one we want because we want to have the ball and be dominant. But we have learned from this experience.”
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After successive defeats, Sunderland are looking to return to winning ways when they host Blackburn this afternoon in their penultimate home game of the season.
Le Bris will again freshen up his side and make changes but Eliezer Mayenda will be hard to leave out after his dazzling display – and stunning goal – at Ashton Gate.
Le Bris said: “It’s good to have this kind of player. We have seen that he can do this – hold the ball, dribble under pressure.
“It’s one of our main threats and we know that we can defend deep sometimes and have this threat to score and create. It’s a big positive for us.”
The squad is likely to be unchanged, with today’s game set to come just too soon for Dennis Cirkin.
But Salis Abdul Samed looks set to make his first start since his return from injury, and he could be joined in the starting XI by Jobe Bellingham after his recent breather.
Le Bris said: “I’m not sure if Dennis will be back, it’s a hamstring injury so we will not rush the process as we did with Enzo.
“He is close but I’m not sure if he’ll play in that game. To start Salis is definitely an option, it could be the right time for him. He’s in the right dynamic I think now.
“Jobe is one of our main players. Like with Enzo and Salis, it was really important to manage the load.
“If we started with him [on Friday] we could have had a better team, but we want to be really well organised. I hope it will pay off the play-offs.”
