Sunderland manager's warning for Leeds United after 'unacceptable' performance

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has demanded a reaction from his side during a big week which ends at home to Leeds United.

Leeds head to the Stadium of Light on Sunday looking to turn some recent draws into victory on the road. For all their early-season promise, Daniel Farke’s side have won just one of their last seven games across all competitions, albeit while playing a handful of decent sides.

This weekend they will kick-off against a Sunderland outfit currently propping up the Premier League table following their 2-0 defeat at Bournemouth last time out. The Black Cats have lost their last four in the Premier League, failing to score on three occasions.

The defeat at Bournemouth was particularly concerning, with Sunderland a goal and a man down inside 17 minutes, the 2-0 final scoreline flattering them. At full-time, Le Bris sent a stern message to his squad ahead of a big week in which they face Lech Poznan and Leeds.

"We are in the Premier League with a busy schedule and we want to embrace it," he told the Sunderland Echo. "Footballers at this level have to show resilience and in the past, we have done it.

“This down is really hard because we don't like it, but at this level you have to manage those situations. I hope really soon we'll react, we'll show that we are Sunderland, we are proud, we have energy, we can win duels and do the simple things well because we have done this in the past.”

Europe has offered some reprieve for Sunderland, who have won both of their Europa League games against AZ Alkmaar and Torreense. Interestingly for Leeds, however, is that both victories were followed by Premier League defeats.

"I told the players and they agreed that we were not at the level and it was unacceptable,” Le Bris added. “Our life is like that, you can have a knockout and you have to stand and go again. It's the life of a footballer at this level, we'll rest, reset and go again."

Le Bris made a number of changes against Torreense last week and is expected to rotate once again on Thursday. But injuries have left the Sunderland squad thin and even those whose minutes are reduced won’t be able to think about Leeds until Friday morning.

One player who will feature on Thursday but not on Sunday is Kevin Danso. The centre-back was sent off against Bournemouth on Sunday and will now serve a one-game bam for the visit of Leeds.