WHEN Sunderland's players returned to the dressing room after Saturday's Millwall success, Regis Le Bris had a clear message - he wants to see more of the same moving forward.
The head coach wasn't necessarily thrilled with the way Sunderland played against the Lions.
But what he liked was the energy, endeavour, body language and "connection" between the players.
And displaying all of the above, he says, will ensure the connection with the supporters remains as strong as ever going into the play-offs.
Le Bris made no secret of his fury at the Coventry City display before the international break, and while he wanted to use that no-show as fuel to get back on track, the head coach was also keen to draw a line under it and told the players the Millwall game - the first after the international break and start of final run-in before the play-offs - was a "new chapter".
Now, Sunderland have to build on Saturday's success with two tricky away games against sides who still have hopes of joining them in the play-offs.
West Brom are currently sixth but could have dropped out of the play-off places by the time they face Sunderland if Middlesbrough win at Blackburn on Friday night. And while Norwich, who Sunderland face next Tuesday, are long shots for a top six finish, they at least kept their slim hopes alive with a hard-fought win over the Baggies at the weekend.
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"It's a question of now we are opening a new chapter," said Le Bris.
"We are doing well because we are in a really good place if you compare with the season before for example and with the gap with the playoffs and the other teams.
"At the same time, we know that the end of the season will be really tough and we can't wait.
"We can't stand still, we have to build this momentum and every step is important and I think this step [Millwall] was more about the body language, the energy, the connection with the team, the counter-pressing rather than playing good football because it's connected.
"I think so far we showed that our collective energy is our main strength."
Le Bris added: "The Millwall win was important because I think the games before the international break, especially Coventry, weren't good enough and I think the team spirit wasn't the one expected for Sunderland.
"We were disappointed, we were angry but at the same time, we know that for such a long league with a small group like ours, you need to accept but at the same time you need to react after that.
"We showed this mindset and the connection with the crowd was positive. Even if it wasn't impressive on the pitch, the level was with ups and downs, I think the energy was really clear."
While Sunderland haven't yet mathematically secured a play-off place, it would take the most unlikely of collapses to miss out on the top six. And come the play-offs, their former boss Alex Neil fancies their chances.
He said: “They’ve got a really good striker in Isidor scoring goals which you need and a good spine and they will be competition for anybody in the play-offs.
"A lot of the players when I was here, they had years head of them. They were a lot of young lads. Now, they are two or three years more experienced, they’re better for it.
"They’ve experienced play-offs, getting up, they’ve gained experienced in their career and some of them are still quite young and that was always the plan in terms of building the squad."
