Sunderland were comfortably beaten by Hearts on Saturday afternoon

Régis Le Bris has admitted that Sunderland duo Anthony Patterson and Chris Rigg are facing a race against time to be ready for the Premier League season.

The pair were again absent as they recover from minor knocks as Sunderland fell to a 3-0 defeat against Hearts of Midlothian at Tynecastle on Saturday afternoon. Both Patterson and Rigg are expected to miss at least Sunderland’s next two pre-season friendlies, meaning the fixtures against Augsburg and Rayo Vallecano could yet be their only appearances before West Ham United visit the Stadium of Light on opening day.

Le Bris did confirm that Wilson Isidor should be available again when Real Betis visit Wearside next weekend, after the striker missed the defeat to Hearts with a minor knee issue.

“We hope that all three will be ready for the start of the season,” Le Bris said.

“Wilson will probably be available after the Hull game, so he is not too far away. For Patto and Riggy, it will take a bit longer. It will probably take more like ten days for them to be able to take part in full competition. By that stage, they should be back doing everything, so hopefully they will have a chance for the first game. It’s possible.

Régis Le Bris delivers verdict on what went wrong for Sunderland against Hearts

Sunderland were outplayed by Hearts and the head coach admitted that their defeat was fully deserved. Hearts have already begun their competitive season and so are further down the line in terms of their match fitness, but Le Bris said it was a warning to his team about the need to be ready to compete.

“It was a tough result and a tough game,” Le Bris said.

“Before the game, I told the players that it would probably be the first game this season with intensity, duels and a need to properly manage direct play, and that was the case. We struggled against their direct play, especially on our left side. We struggled in duels in general, so it was tough. We didn’t manage their man-for-man properly, so we got dominated in every phase. At the end, the result was well deserved.

“We need to get to the right level of intensity,” he added.

“This was an important reminder because we need this type of experience to be at the right level. In the last two games, we were more focused about tactics because the games were slow, with another style of play. Here, it was more what we can expect in terms of the speed, intensity and level of commitment. We have to manage both, but this afternoon, we were not ready for that part of things.”

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