Regis Le Bris puts European dreams to one side as Sunderland keep hope alive | OneFootball

Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris has warned against dreaming of European football until it is secured after the 3-1 win at Everton boosted their chances.

The Black Cats recovered from Merlin Rohl’s deflected strike late in the first half to score three times through Brian Brobbey, Enzo Le Fee and Wilson Isidor, lifting them within two points of seventh-placed Brighton.

Sunderland’s only main European adventure came in 1973-74 with a handful of games in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup but Le Bris will not allow his players to get ahead of themselves with the prospect of a return so close, with eighth place guaranteed continental football.

“It’s on but it’s not done,” said the Frenchman.

“The most important thing is to stay focused because when we start dreaming probably it is a distraction.

“The opponent (Chelsea) next week will be strong so we have to be at our best. If it’s the case (Europe is confirmed) at the end of the game we will have this conversation.

“It’s a really good season: we hit the 40-point target early and were able to keep the consistency.

“The team showed they were still ambitious and played good football and now we have an opportunity to play an exciting fixture at home.”

After a lacklustre first half the Sunderland boss admitted they decided to gamble.

“At half-time we agreed it was important to take more risks, even if the game became more unbalanced,” he added.

Everton’s European chances are all but over and manager David Moyes was less than impressed with the way they surrendered them, suggesting issues need to be addressed in the summer transfer window.

“Disappointed with the outcome, lots of parts of the game,” he said.

“The result frustrated me the most because I didn’t think it was quite that, I didn’t think it was a true reflection of the game but that’s what it ended up.

“We put ourselves in a decent position all season to talk well about the team, I don’t feel like talking well about them today as it was a big moment for us and we weren’t able to take it.

“We need to try to find a way of improving that and that mainly always means we are going to have to bring in other players and try and see if we can step up again.”