‘Sometimes you do not realise what an opportunity it is’ – Le Bris reacts to Port Vale defeat

Regis Le Bris believes that his side did not show enough “fighting spirit” during their loss to Port Vale in the FA Cup fifth round.

Ben Waine’s first half header was the difference between the sides as the bottom side in League one edged past Premier League opposition to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup .

Le Bris only made two changes to the side that beat Leeds 1-0 in midweek and says that they had enough out there to beat Port Vale .

“Congratulations to our opponent, they played with intensity and patience,” he said.

“It was about the fighting spirit and they seized their opportunity. We had chances but it wasn’t enough to win the game.

“We had enough [players to win the game] but we didn’t show enough.

“We thought so [it was a chance to go deep into the competition]. The players are young. Sometimes you do not realise what an opportunity it is.

“Is what it is. It’s not easy, really disappointed. Sad for our fans because they’ve travelled to support us and we didn’t give this amount of energy to make the difference. This competition is relentless, one game 90 minutes anything can happen. Disappointed.

“The lads wanted to do it. We are not able to do it. It is what it is.

“The Premier League is our first objective, 100%. We tried to go strong with the players we had. We trained properly before. If you don’t show enough you get punished and that’s what happened today.”

The League one outfit play on a threadbare pitch that made making intracate passes difficult for Sunderland but Le Bris did not want to make any excuses.

“The pitch is the pitch. We won’t find excuses,” he said. “It levels everything, technically and tactically.

“You put in the battle and fighting spirit and they were good at that, the crowd the stadium the event. They deserved on that part of the game to win.”