Sunderland fell to a 5-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest at the Stadium of Light on Friday night

Régis Le Bris said his decision to substitute Chris Rigg at half time against Nottingham Forest was not a reflection of the youngster’s performance in the game.

Sunderland were trailing 4-0 at the break after a dismal start to the game, conceding three times from set pieces. Le Bris moved to shore Sunderland up at the interval, bringing on Reinildo and moving to a back five for the second half.

The Sunderland head coach said his decision was not based on Rigg’s individual performance but the need to change shape and introduce Reinildo’s experience.

“It wasn't Chris's fault, it's clear,” Le Bris said.

“It was a tactical decision. I wanted to change the shape to give more intensity with Rei. He has intensity and experience. It gave us the opportunity to change the structure. We needed to change the dynamic and it was the case in the second half but we didn't score.”

Reinildo was a surprise absentee from the starting XI on Friday night, replaced by Trai Hume after the Northern Ireland international scored his first Premier League goal from the bench at Aston Villa last weekend. Reinildo is believed to have been one of the players impacted by illness last weekend but Le Bris confirmed this was a tactical decisions.

“We have different options in this position,” he said.

“Trai did really well last week so I think he deserved to start. We have three strong full-backs able to play at that level, so it was my decision.”

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Régis Le Bris delivers verdict on what went wrong in first half

“It hurts, it's painful, because it's not the face we want to show, so for the players, I think it was like a punch in their face, and for me as well,” Le Bris said.

“After that, you can't complain, you can't look for excuses, you just have to go forward, and in the second half, this was our ambition, at least fight, at least show that you have a strong energy, you are proud to be a Sunderland player, and our fans were behind us, to be fair, so they were probably better than us today, and we tried to change the dynamic in the second half, we didn't give up, which is the minimum.”

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