REGIS Le Bris says efforts to bolster his backroom team are continuing after interviews with potential candidates.

But, interestingly, Sunderland's head coach says he'd be happy to go forward without bringing in a new face if the Black Cats can't find or agree a deal with the best candidate.

Sunderland have held interviews with candidates but Le Bris, who will have the final say on any appointment, says he won't bring someone in for the sake of it and will only sanction a new arrival if he believes they'll improve or add something different to the current backroom team.

He's previously confirmed he won't be joined by anyone who was part of his team at former club Lorient.

"At the moment, it is the same answer as to the questions about the recruitment of the players," said Le Bris, when quizzed on the process of adding to his backroom team after Saturday's draw with Marseille.

"The idea is the same, we are looking with the idea to improve this part of the club if we can find someone who can improve the team. If we can, let's go. If not, we have a good team."

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Sunderland's pre-season came to a close against Marseille on Saturday, with the Black Cats performing well against strong opposition - but Le Bris still saw plenty of room for improvement.

He said: "It was better. The opponent was very different and the problems very different.

"I think the team struggled at the beginning to understand how to press and recover the ball. They like to keep the ball, attract the opposition into the central corridor so that they can then attack you in behind. So sometimes we succeeded, sometimes it was more difficult but in the end I think the team played well.

"In possession, we need to improve many things because I think we had many opportunities to counterattack quicker. When we recovered the ball in midfield they were unbalanced and I think it's important we convert these. We couldn't quite find the last pass today, the last decision was not quite good enough, so we need to improve this for sure.

"Also, the start from our goalkeeper against high pressure - we can improve this as well.

"We won't have many games like that during the Championship but it was a really good exercise for us putting in our game model. There were mistakes, for sure, but the intention was good and we will improve and learn a lot from it."

He added: "The whole team has a good mindset, really. I like the way they are working together and the way they want to play together. It is not perfect, for sure, but the energy is very good and this is the most important thing at the moment. Then the Championship will start and we know our first goal is to win."