Regis le Bris says Sunderland “need time” to bed in the summer signings but believes their potential for this season is already evident given the experience they have added.
The Black Cats fell to a 1-0 defeat by La Liga opponents Real Betis at Stadium of Light on Saturday in their sixth pre-season friendly but Le Bris was still encouraged by what he saw.
“We’re adding new building blocks with three new players in the squad, who have a bit more maturity and experience,” the Sunderland boss told BBC Radio Newcastle. “We need time because it’s not easy.
“Granit Xhaka brings maturity and a level of confidence to the squad. That was in our plan.
“We started the recruitment window with talented young players, but we can’t step up [to the Premier League] with just skills.
“You need experience and we felt the immediate difference in this game, so now it is about sharing experiences.
“We are building a new squad and I think the quality is here, so now it is about balance and adding new building blocks progressively.”
Sunderland travel to Germany next, where they will face Augsburg and Rayo Vallecano before they kick-off the Premier League season against West Ham.
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