HE is presiding over a side that is five points clear at the top of the Championship table, but Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris has spent the last week looking for trouble. And the better his side becomes, the harder he will continue to search.

In terms of the last decade or so, this is unchartered territory for Sunderland, a club that is striving to regain former glories. Le Bris’ players are unused to being at the top of the second tier, and with only two seasons in charge of Lorient to fall back on when it comes to managerial experience, even Sunderland’s head coach is negotiating uncharted waters.

The plaudits have come thick and fast in the first three months of the season, with pundits, players and opposition managers queuing up to praise the Black Cats’ results and performances.

Yet with commendation comes the potential for complacency. Le Bris knows his team and players are far from the finished article; he wants them to be aware of that fact too. Slacken off by even a couple of per cent, and a fine start to the season can easily turn into a rapid slide down the table. Hence the constant checking that standards are being maintained and commitment levels are not lapsing.

“We are in a good place, this is very clear,” said Le Bris, ahead of this afternoon’s game with QPR at Loftus Road. “But we know that we have a long journey ahead of us.

“For the players, it could be a problem yes, because it is new. I think our main strength is our connection as a team, and if you have a big success as we have so far this season, then you can receive the praise and you can become selfish or you can lose your consistency.

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“It’s very important to keep this connection, and one of my main concerns as head coach is to detect if this happens, because it can be very subtle. I'm aware this could be a problem.”

Le Bris is still learning about the players he inherited when he agreed to take over on Wearside earlier this summer, but two of his fellow coaches, Mike Dodds and Michael Proctor, have more extensive experience of working with most of the current squad.

As a result, he is leaning on their opinions and thoughts as he attempts to monitor his squad’s mental preparation for their matches.

“Now, we have a size of staff where we can assess these things,” he said. “Now, as a head coach, I can sometimes have a little distance from the training sessions.

“This allows me to observe people, to understand their feelings and to feel if something is going wrong or whether we are still on the right road.”

While Le Bris has only spent two full seasons in management, he has extensive experience of working with young players thanks to his time in charge of the academy set-up at both Rennes and Lorient.

The likes of Chris Rigg and Jobe Bellingham have made giant strides this season despite still being teenagers, and Le Bris is confident he would sense if any of his young players were straying from the right track.

“I am confident for them because I have worked with so many young players before and can feel when they might get carried away,” said the Sunderland boss. “That is not the case with them because they like playing football so much.

“Instead of enjoying what is around football, they like playing the game, they want to improve and they like talking about their development.

“So, if their main concerns stay the same, I am very confident about them. They are still young, so we will keep paying attention and caring about them.”