Making Black Cats robust key to summer transfer analysis-Regis

Régis Le Bris believes Sunderland's decision to target players with strong availability records and a history of covering significant distances in games has been key to their start to the Premier League.

- by Phil Smith

The Black Cats have made an excellent return to the top tier so far, taking 19 points from their first 11 games. Having beaten Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, Sunderland then became only the third team this season after Liverpool and Manchester City to take points off Arsenal with a 2-2 draw last Saturday.

One of the key factors in Sunderland's success is that they have been able to match the athleticism and physicality of their opponents so far.

The head coach has explained that this is no fluke, but a result of Sunderland's summer analysis.

"Robustness is key in this league," Le Bris said.