Régis Le Bris explains Granit Xhaka substitution and post-match message to Sunderland players
Sunderland secured their second win of the Premier League season by beating Chelsea
Régis Le Bris says his Sunderland players showed they understand the situation they are in with a battling win over Chelsea at the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats secured a hard-fought win over Xabi Alonso's side to climb off the foot of the table and ease the pressure on the Sunderland head coach heading into the international break. Sunderland had the better of the first half and took the lead through Enzo Le Fee's penalty, before defending resolutely in the second half to secure just their second win of the league season.
Le Bris praised the reaction of his players and the spirit he showed but added that this has to be just the start of a sustained improvement in performances and results.
"The three points were crucial at the end of this nine-game block, before the international break as well, but equally the identity, the intensity, the togetherness, the way we managed the game, according to the strength, the scenario, I think it was good," Le Bris said.
"It's two things. The first is the journey, it's really demanding and we need to adapt.
"And the second, I think the lads felt the danger as well. It's important to take this into account. It's important to do it now, because if it's later, it will be too late. And so it's not done, I told them the target is still 40 points, so a long way to go, but the reaction and what we showed as a group and individual performances as well were really important."
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Le Bris also confirmed that Granit Xhaka had suffered a calf injury in the warm up before the game. Xhaka was forced off inside five minutes of the kick off, with Le Bris explaining that he tried to play through an issue he felt in the final stage of the warm up.
"It looks like a calf injury, but we don't know exactly the timeframe at the minute," Le Bris said.
"It was just the last sprint of the warm-up, that's often the case [with these injuries]."
Xhaka was replaced by Jules Ahoka, who produced a superb performance in his longest Premier League appearance to date.
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