Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris was full of praise for Coventry City’s Haji Wright, who bagged a hat-trick in the Sky Blues’ 3-0 victory over Sunderland.
The American starred in another impressive display for Frank Lampard’s side, further strengthing their chances at finishing in a Championship playoff spot.
Defeat for the Black Cats leaves them nine points adrift of third-placed side Burnley, who defeated Swansea City 2-0.
Afterwards, the French manager commented on Wright’s performance, which condemned his side to a first defeat since their 1-0 loss against Hull City.
Impressive
“It’s good to have a player who is dominant like that,” Le Bris said.
“It gives confidence for the team and for the whole squad when you have someone who is dominant in duels and you can feel he can score from a single situation.
“As a coach, it was really impressive.”
However, Le Bris was deeply critical of his side’s performance, labelling the defeat as a “collective failure.”
“It wasn’t the best version of us this afternoon, and Coventry played well.
“They played good football.
“They were incisive, they were intense, and we were not able to maintain the level to defend properly.
“Even if the shape was ok, our intensity in duels and the second balls were far from the level expected.
“With the ball, we were sloppy because it wasn’t possible to keep the ball against the pressure.
“I think we’ll have many different explanations and one of them is probably after the game at Leeds, we broke our dynamic a little bit and probably our way of thinking about the automatic promotion.
“We played well, but didn’t get any points.
“We looked exhausted on the pitch and lacked the energy to be competitive.”
READ MORE: Haji Wright on cue for Coventry City
Cardiff City
Omer Riza is proud of his Cardiff City troops
Championship
OLIVER’S SET FOR BIG STEP
