REGIS LE BRIS described Chris Rigg as a “symbol” of his new-look Sunderland team after the homegrown teenager scored the winner against Middlesbrough at the Stadium of Light.

Rigg capped a superb all-round performance with a remarkable back-heeled goal to lift the Black Cats back to the top of the Championship table as they provided the perfect response to their first defeat of the season at Plymouth last weekend.

The 17-year-old looked to have taken the ball too wide as he went around Middlesbrough goalkeeper Seny Dieng towards the end of the first half, but he found the back of the net with sensational back-heel.

Despite interest from a number of Premier League clubs, Rigg signed his first professional contract with Sunderland in the summer, and Le Bris already sees the academy product as emblematic of the team and identity he is hoping to create.

The Black Cats boss said: “I think he is like a symbol of our process, our game model. He always wants to learn, to play whatever the circumstances are, whoever the opponent is.

“He deserves to play like this because I see it every training session, he prepares to be able to do this.

"I don't think the age is a problem. You can have a high level of maturity at 17 and a low level of maturity at 30.

“I think that Chris Rigg is a good symbol of what we want to create and build as a team. He still wants to improve, still wants to understand the game and if we can share all these ideas, we can have the energy we need as a team even against a strong opponent."

Le Bris was hoping his side would bounce back from their 3-2 defeat at Plymouth seven years ago, and was pleased with his players’ response on the training ground in the build-up to today’s game.

They still had to deliver on the pitch though, and while Middlesbrough dominated possession for long periods, Sunderland’s organisation and defensive resilience shone through.

Le Bris said: “After the first defeat, it was difficult because I didn't think the dynamic was broken. During the week I felt that the players were very involved, and with still this willingness to improve.

“We talked a lot about our game model, the way we want to play. At the end we just had the preparation for this game on the last day, and they were very involved in that.

“It was a tough game, we needed to solve many problems during the game - for example when they overloaded our left side in the first half. I felt our team wanted to work together to solve these problems.

“They had the momentum in the second half because they wanted to score, but our mindset was very strong.

"This week we spoke a lot about how we want to play - sometimes it is possible and sometimes it is not. During this week I had a good feeling but of course you need to produce against a strong opponent, and the players did that."