Régis Le Bris explains Aji Alese substitution and what he liked about Sunderland win over Portsmouth

Régis Le Bris has allayed fears that Aji Alese has suffered an injury by explaining that he was substituted due to illness on Sunday.

Alese was replaced by Dennis Cirkin at half time of Sunderland's 1-0 win over Portsmouth, but Le Bris explained afterwards that it was a precautionary change that he felt comfortable making given Cirkin's readiness to contribute.

Alese should therefore be in contention for the FA Cup third round clash with Stoke City next weekend and beyond.

"Aji was feeling ill, and Dennis was ready so we had that option on the bench," Le Bris said.

Portsmouth proved difficult opponents despite Wilson Isidor's early goal, and while Le Bris admitted that his side weren't necessarily at their best, he praised the way they dealt with the opposition's direct play and said fatigue was an inevitable factor after such a challenging schedule.

"The early goal was important and it opened the game as we expected, but Portsmouth did well with their own direct style of play," Le Bris said.

"They were direct, win second balls and in the first half we struggled to manage this situation. When we did that, we felt we could create chances to score. We were not passive but we suffered a little from this part of their game. Second half we did this better, we had 24 shots and some big chances. I was pleased because the team could have lost their emotional control and they didn't.

"It was their fifth game in fifteen games, and right now we have a short squad. We can't expect a great level of play for the entire game, it's not possible. But we showed that we wanted to win the game, that we were connected even when it was a little bit more difficult and we knew that it would be this way, because they are very good at their own style of play. It's not easy to unbalance this team and at the end, we showed that even despite this we were very connected with the game.

"There are always two phases in the game, and with the extra striker we can have more threat in behind. On the opposite side, we have to control the middle and this is more difficult at the moment. But today, I don't think this was the main problem to solve. We knew before the game when we analysed them that we would have to control their long balls and the battle around this. We did well with our strengths and we don't have the tallest players in the league, but we were brave and defended together, and in the end we found a solution."

Sunderland now have a valuable period of six days rest before they face Stoke City in the FA Cup Third Round, a game for which Le Bris might rotate his side.