Jobe Bellingham scored his fourth goal of the season as Sunderland came from behind to beat Norwich City

Régis Le Bris believes Jobe Bellingham will keep scoring crucial goals for Sunderland moving forward as the midfielder begins to reap the rewards of his hard work behind the scenes.

Bellingham’s winning goal against Norwich City was his second in as many games, and his fourth of the season overall. The 19-year-old has been in exceptional form all season but Le Bris’s decision to move him into a slightly deeper role than he played last season initially had an understandable impact on his goalscoring return.

Le Bris says this is something he and the coaching staff have been working closely on with the youngster at the Academy of Light, and that fans are beginning to see the impact of this on the pitch.

“Yes we have been talking about adding more goals, but I think it's clear in his mind,” Le Bris said.

“I don't have to say to Jobe ‘you can score’. It was just a question of position. We've talked a lot about his position on the pitch. If he can manage different situations he can be involved in the build-up, the high pressure and the low pressure. But if he wants to affect the score his position had to be a bit higher up the pitch and we've spoken a lot about the position of our 8s. Especially for Jobe.

“Out of possession he plays as a 6 so it's not always easy to find the right balance with the offensive part of the game. He played there during the first game of the season, higher up the pitch, then he played as a midfielder. Now it's just a question of adjustment and he learns so very quickly.”

Bellingham has long been known at Sunderland as a player with maturity and tactical acumen well beyond his years and Le Bris says he is relishing working with him on a daily basis.

Le Bris said: “Good players are always challenging. It's very positive for a coach because they are ambitious and show this every day on the pitch.

“If the players and staff are like that, we're on the same page. We want to learn and improve ourselves. We know we have to be very clear with him and the feedback has to be accurate because he can understand very quickly if it's true and real or not. It's a gift to have these kinds of players. We have many different players. The squad is very exciting to manage because we have different profiles.

“Even with the young ones or older ones, they are different but the mentality and character is very positive. We can manage many situations without avoiding subjects. We can be very clear so it's a very positive environment to learn.”