PEDRO Ribeiro's initial focus at Sunderland will be on the defence, revealed Regis Le Bris, who says the Black Cats were able to broaden their search for an assistant manager thanks to the fine behind the scenes work of Mike Dodds.

Porto, Olympiacos and Fenerbahçe coach Ribeiro arrived as Le Bris' deputy last week, bringing to an end a long and exhaustive search for a new assistant manager at the Stadium of Light.

Le Bris arrived on his own in the summer but has been supported by Dodds and Michael Proctor - with the fine work of the existing coaching staff prompting Sunderland to change their thinking when it came to who and what they were looking for in their search for a new No.2.

"We started the process early," revealed Le Bris.

"We stopped because it was too difficult to manage all the tasks, training the team and knowing the players - so we stopped this process towards the end of the window and restarted after.

"We had the chance to work with the current staff, they showed me they had a high knowledge of the Championship.

"The profile of the new assistant moved a little bit so it was possible to have a new view and experience. I was happy. Doddsy has a strong knowledge of all the teams and can analyse deeply all the elements and deliver for the group and staff.

"We decided to open the profile and Pedro is the kind of profile we didn't have before - his experience at the highest level and this new view, even later in the season, can be very different for us. It's a new person with a new feeling and experience.

"During the interview process it was very nice, we discovered many personalities and interesting guys. This one matched very well."

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Le Bris says Ribeiro - who speaks the language - has settled well at the Academy of Light and outlined where his assistant's focus will be, at least initially.

"We are still building because he is still new and we are developing our workflow," he said.

"But I can say that his main focus really is on the defensive side.

"He's very connected with the man-for-man marking, the zonal defence, the final third defence. He has good expertise in this part of the game and this is very important for us - we can improve every element in our game.

"This will be his first responsibility and of course with a new personality, new background, new language, new experiences - we can develop a new voice. This is good for us. He has started and his first week on the pitch has been very good."