Two years ago, Tony Mowbray’s Sunderland side scrambled into the play-offs on the final day of the season, but their successful surge into the top six came at a price as their injury-ravaged defence forced him to completely alter his tactics for the semi-final.
When they lined up at Kenilworth Road for their semi-final decider against Luton Town, the Black Cats found themselves with Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke playing as wing-backs because there were no other options for the full-back positions in a conventional back four. Faced with an aerial bombardment, Sunderland collapsed in the first half as Luton made it to Wembley.
Two years on, and Le Bris is desperate to avoid a repeat scenario when his side head into the play-offs next month. So, while results might have been disappointing in the last few weeks, the Black Cats boss feels that is a price worth paying in order to ensure his key men have the best possible chance of being at their sharpest when the end-of-season shootout begins.
“The last play-off campaign two years ago, there was a lack of defenders available,” said Le Bris, ahead of this afternoon’s game at Bristol City. “It wasn’t possible to manage the squad at that moment.
“Now, we have this opportunity. We might have some problems with injuries but if we do it will be bad luck, not because we had to rush the process with any of the players. Now we have this option and it’s very important for us here to be calm, quiet, well organised, and support the squad.”
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While Le Bris was not involved in Sunderland’s most recent play-off campaign, he has spoken to a number of players and staff who were involved in the two-legged defeat to Luton.
The key message remained consistent – Sunderland had to run their players into the ground in the final months of the season in order to scramble their way into a play-off place, but they paid a heavy price for inflicting that workload on the squad once the semi-finals began.
There is always something of a trade-off between fitness and form if you are in Sunderland’s position in the final month of the season, and Le Bris has strongly come down on the side of the former.
“It’s a new experience for me [the play-offs], so I talked with many people about this period and how we can manage properly this situation,” said the Black Cats boss. “What is really important is the end of the season.
“We can’t change our position in the table right now, but we can build the best shape possible. This is our main purpose and what we can control, we will do properly. What we can’t control, we ignore.
“I’ve spoken to the players, people around the team, other players who have been successful in play-off campaigns. I’ve spoken to a lot of people to find the best way to prepare the team.”
And while Sunderland will not discover the identity of their semi-final opponents for another couple of weeks, Le Bris feels the nature of the play-offs inevitably means his side will face a tight two-legged battle for a place at Wembley.
“I spoke to a lot of players who have played in these games,” he said. “It was clear that it’s often about a mistake, it’s not easy to create many chances from open play. It’s hard to play with freedom, the games are always tight and tense. The intensity is very high and often, mistakes make the difference.”
