The Black Cats signed off for the stoppage with their heaviest loss of the campaign when they went down 3-0 to the in-form Sky Blues.
But Le Bris put the performance and result down to “exhaustion”, with the two-week break coming at the perfect time for Sunderland, believes their head coach.
The Black Cats return to action tomorrow when they host Millwall, and while a fourth-place finish looks a safe bet, Le Bris is determined to finish the campaign in good form so his side can go into the play-offs armed with momentum.
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Once the dust had settled on the Coventry defeat, Le Bris wasn’t concerned about the prospect of his side running out of steam in the final stages of the season.
He said: “We were disappointed and angry, like our fans after the game.
“It wasn’t really Sunderland on the pitch, that was clear.
“We looked exhausted. We’ve been really good so far, so after 38 games it wasn’t a huge surprise. It wasn’t a comfortable feeling but it’s not unusual for a very young team with many injuries and a small core.
“It was more an accident. Tactically, the mindset of the players was OK. it was just a question of performance. Sometimes the level can drop and you don’t have only one explanation.
“It wasn’t a good feeling. We were disappointed and angry but we still have 10 points more than Coventry at this stage of the season.
“We are still in a really good position. We need everyone involved in this state of the season to build strong momentum.”
Setbacks, believe Le Bris, are inevitable in a long and gruelling Championship season, and what matters is how you respond to them, as Sheffield United showed when they bounced back from a surprise 3-0 defeat to Hull with four straight wins a couple of months ago.
After tomorrow’s visit of Millwall, Sunderland have two away games at West Brom and Norwich, before returning to the Stadium of Light to host Swansea.
Le Bris said: “We have shown good reactions after defeats. I’m not really worried.
“We’ve spoken a lot about ups and downs during the season. We’ve had more ups than downs.
“This league requires resilience. We are in this part of the season. I think we have the resources to react.”
