Sunderland ran out emphatic 3-0 winners over West Ham United on the opening day of the season

Régis Le Bris praised his Sunderland players for their superb opening-day win over West Ham United but insisted they would stay humbled for the challenges ahead.

The Black Cats started well and though West Ham impressed in the latter stages of the first half, Sunderland responded superbly after the break and were deserving of their win. Le Bris was impressed with how his players took on his half-time tweaks but said the mood in the dressing room was clear at full time. Granit Xhaka addressed the players and spoke of the importance of staying united for the challenges ahead.

“I'm happy for the fans and the players and the club,” Le Bris said.

“We had different phases of pre-season and we spoke about the layers we needed to add. It was obvious that it starts from the foundations - we showed that the team is working well, they were hard to beat in a mid to low block. The first half was a bit more difficult but during the second half we felt we could get opportunities through regains in the middle and that we could score through counter attacks.

“We didn't change many important things at half time. We spoke a bit about their goalkeeper restarts and our high press, we went for man for man and they found two or three opportunities with long balls. So it was really important to be strong in duels. We made just two or three little decisions, and it made a difference.”

After a summer of heavy recruitment at Sunderland, it was perhaps fitting that all three goals were scored by players at the club last season, with Eliezer Mayenda, Dan Ballard and Wilson Isidor on the scoresheet.

“It's really important for two reasons, they showed they can step up [first and foremost],” Le Bris said.

“We'll see later, but today it was the case. And it's really important because they keep the identity of the club and the way we worked last season. We built this strength about togetherness, the way we work as a team. The players worked well as a team and they showed that again today.

Régis Le Bris issues Jenson Seelt update

Perhaps the only negative of the game was that Jenson’s Seelt strong start to the season was cut short by injury, but Le Bris is cautiously optimistic the damage is not severe.

“I don't think it's really serious,” Le Bris said.

“He played well the first part of the game. Omar came in and showed us we now have a bit more depth with our centre backs, so that is a positive for us.”

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