REGIS Le Bris pointed to the positives despite seeing his Sunderland second string get knocked out of the Carabao Cup at Preston.

Le Bris made 11 changes from the side that beat Cardiff City on the opening day of the season whereas hosts North End were near enough at full strength, with interim boss Mike Marsh desperate for a much-needed victory after Monday's exit of manager Ryan Lowe.

But Sunderland's second string put up a good fight and although they ran out of steam in the second half, Le Bris still thinks some of the players who featured at Deepdale can make an impact in his first team.

He said: "For us, it's not good to be out of the cup but we want to improve these players, create opportunities to develop them.

"This was a great occasion for that. The experience was very good for them. It's never easy because they do not play together much. "There are three or four players from this team who when they play with our strongest players as well, it will be different - the references and the experience will be better."

Le Bris added: "It was a new starting XI really, their third game together after Eldense and Bradford, so it was a tough game because Preston were close to their strongest team on the pitch.

"It was a good test and I think this team has improved a lot from its previous games together. We had a good chance to score in the first half, we defended well and pressed high. The lack of experience and ability of our opponent to be strong from set pieces... it's a new step for our players."

Abdoullah Ba had a glorious first half chance to put Sunderland ahead before Ryan Ledson broke the deadlock. Preston's experience told in the second half and Mads Frokjaer scored the home side's second goal.

Le Bris said: "It was the worst conditions I think for them today but in the end, they never gave up and worked until the end.

"They created many things until the end, so for me it's a good step for their improvement.

"There was a big improvement [from Bradford] and it is proof that you need time to grow, you need experiences of this kind to develop and improve. It's a long and tough process. Today is a low because we lost but in the end they have learned a lot."