Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris ‘not surprised’ by Dan Ballard’s display
Regis Le Bris admitted it was “not a surprise” to see Dan Ballard’s starring display during Sunderland’s 3-0 win against West Ham.
The 25-year-old was at the heart of the Black Cats’ impressive return to the Premier League, keeping a clean sheet and scoring a goal in their first top-flight appearance since May 2017.
Ballard was key during the club’s promotion campaign last season, where he scored a last-gasp winner in the play-off semi-final against Coventry, and Le Bris has challenged the defender to repeat his display.
“I’m not surprised by his performance because he showed last season during the play-offs that it was possible for him to reach that level,” Le Bris said.
“So for me it’s not a surprise. The main challenge for him is to repeat the same performance week after week, so it’s the consistency and always one of the main problems.
“We have many talented players, I think we can find a good connection between them, but the main challenge will be the ability to repeat.
“It’s not the same story, we’ll have other problems to solve. For Ballard, I think it will be the case, but it will be the case for everyone in the squad.”
Another player who put in a quietly impressive display was goalkeeper Robin Roefs, who kept a clean sheet on his Premier League debut.
One of Sunderland’s 12 arrivals so far, the 22-year-old was given the nod over last season’s regular starter Anthony Patterson, but Le Bris believes the culture within the goalkeeping unit has helped Roefs to settle.
“It was good, really good. We had a short chat this morning and he’s really impressed by the early connection he got with his team-mates,” the Sunderland boss added.
“When you have a new goalkeeper, number one, and you create an early, quick and nice connection with your team-mates it’s really positive for the squad.
“Simon Moore, Anthony Patterson, Blondy (Nna Noukeu), they welcomed very well this new goalkeeper and they created the condition for this performance.
“It shows how Sunderland works together and how we want to build this togetherness to be efficient on the pitch and it was the case.”
Le Bris confirmed that Jenson Seelt is fine to face Burnley on Saturday despite being taken off with a knock during the Hammers clash, but Romaine Mundle, Luke O’Nien, Leo Hjelde, Dennis Cirkin and Aji Alese remain sidelined.
A late decision will be made on whether Nordi Mukiele – who joined on Sunday – is ready, while fellow new arrival Arthur Masuaku is available.
Out of this season’s newly-promoted trio, Sunderland and Leeds recorded opening-day wins, while Burnley were beaten by Tottenham.
Looking ahead to the game, Le Bris said: “The next challenge is Burnley so we’ll do our best and if it’s possible to win, we have to win.
“We have a strong opponent, they will be well-organised and will have this fighting spirit to open their Premier League as well. It will be a tough challenge.”