REGIS LE BRIS identified the ‘strength of Sunderland’ spirit’ as the key factor behind today’s opening-day win over Cardiff City.

Luke O’Nien and Jack Clarke found the net as the Black Cats kicked off the new campaign with a 2-0 victory in south Wales.

Le Bris admits there is plenty to work on in terms of his side’s attacking play, with the need for a new centre-forward once again apparent as Eliezer Mayenda struggled to retain possession in the final third.

But Sunderland’s new boss was nevertheless delighted with his side’s commitment and spirit as they strained every sinew to secure a winning start.

“It's satisfying for us to win our first match,” said Le Bris, who was leading French club Lorient last season. “It wasn't easy to start away from home, the game was tough.

“We started well I think and when we scored this goal, the goal changed things because Cardiff took more risks and it wasn't easy for us to recover the ball and press high. Even in our mid press, it was difficult.

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“So, we recover the ball in our final third and we're very far from the opposition goal. We had some good sequences but the whole game, we weren't able to dominate.

“The satisfaction is in the team spirit because we kept a consistency, the organisation. We tried to solve the problems and because we have the ability to score with our individual quality, at the end we won this game.”

For much of the game Sunderland appeared willing to cede possession while sitting deep as they looked to hit Cardiff on the counter-attack.

The ploy worked reasonably well, although Le Bris admitted it was not a pre-planned tactic and is not really the style that he wants to adopt on a regular basis.

“It wasn't really the plan for them to have that much possession,” he said. “But I'm happy because we won and that was our main goal. Sometimes, the scenario, the balance of the game is not what you expect and you have to deal with it.

“We played two very different games, against Marseille it was a very rational, positional game. This was completely different, a lot more random and we struggled to find our references. But the players talked a lot, found solutions.

“So, for me, the main pillar of a successful season is obviously the game but also the team spirit. Today we had the spirit and we kept it until the end, and I think our fans were very important in giving us the extra energy we needed. At the end, the three points is most important for us.”