Sunderland secured a hard fought win at West Brom on Saturday thanks to Trai Hume’s free kick

Régis Le Bris has explained his decision to drop Jobe Bellingham into a deeper midfield role at West Brom on Saturday.

Le Bris had named an unchanged team from the 1-0 win over Millwall at the Stadium of Light a week previous, but there was a slight change in the structure of the side as Dan Neil was pushed further forward. The Sunderland head coach says it was partly to give the pair a fresh challenge after what has a been a long and draining season, and partly for his own ends to explore some other options ahead of what will now almost certainly be a play-off campaign next month.

"From the beginning of the season we have almost always played with the same structure, with Dan and Jobe in the same position,” Le Bris said.

“I think now for the final stage of the season, it's important one to keep things fresh for them and two to create a bit more versatility and flexibility of the team. It's useful for us to have some more layers in our game for the future.”

While West Brom dominated possession and had over 20 shots in Saturday’s game, Sunderland defended resolutely to take the points thanks to Trai Hume’s free kick and Le Bris says he is pleased with how his side have responded to a heavy defeat at Coventry City before the international break.

"For us, the main idea now is to build strong momentum through April and it was important after Coventry to show a reaction. We have done that now so it starts to be a new dynamic. Now we have another strong challenge away at Norwich, and another opportunity to grow as a team."

What Régis Le Bris said about Sunderland’s performance in West Brom win

Earlier in his press conference, Le Bris had hailed the mindset of his team in getting over the line in a difficult contest.

"The first half was OK in possession, we had some good spells but when we scored the opponent had to push and take risks,” Le Bris said.

“In that situation our zonal defence, midblock and lowblock were really important. We did really well from a tactical point of view but I want to reinforce the idea that the mindset of the team was key. They were really well connected, won many duels and the team spirit was impressive.

"It's the normal evolution of the game, because they used many bodies in the box and tried to play crosses, to use different options to create some chaotic situations in the box,” Le Bris added.

“We defended this very well and protected Anthony. The game became a little bit crazy because when we recovered the ball the chances were there to counter. So until the end it was on the end but I think you can feel now that the maturity of the team is getting better. I think probably three or four months we lost these games, we lost many points from these circumstances so this is a big positive."