Sunderland boss Regis le Bris has been speaking to the media before Friday's Premier League game against Nottingham Forest at the Stadium of Light (kick-off 20:00 BST).
Here are the key lines from his news conference:
On team news, Le Bris confirmed Nilson Angulo and Bertrand Traore are close to returning and could be back on the training pitch next week. He added that Jocelin Ta Bi returned to training this week and "felt good, which is good news".
The Belgian confirmed several players were unwell for the defeat by Aston Villa but it showed how Sunderland now have “more options” who can come in and help “influence” games.
On what losing the high-scoring game against Villa last weekend showed him, he said: "The league is really demanding. It's another reminder. We are moving forward and we are growing, and I think it shows good signs for the future."
On the chaos surrounding other clubs who have sacked managers this season and whether he is proud of the job he has done to avoid that talk, Le Bris said he doesn't look at other clubs or "too far in the future".
He added: "A strong project, clear identity, clear teamwork, so I'm not alone. It's an interesting job and the results can influence the judgement."
Le Bris was also asked about full-back Dennis Cirkin's future with only 12 months remaining on his contract. He responded: "We'll see. It's a bit early to give a specific opinion because we never know, but at the minute it's clear that we have three strong full-backs and the competition is high, so it's hard to be the fourth in that situation. At the end of his contract, I don't know – the future is the future."
Onn what he expects from Forest: "A strong team. They are in the semi-final of the Europa League, unbeaten in their past seven games and have nice, good players. They struggled at the beginning of the season, which shows how demanding this league is because if you don't get the momentum, you will chase the momentum and the confidence, the energy are sometimes a bit different and difficult to find. So they are getting better and it's clear they are now in good form, so it will be tactical. It will be demanding but an exciting challenge."
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