'It'll probably' - Preston North End get the Sunderland inside track with Regis Le Bris & Alan Browne verdicts

Preston North End host Sunderland in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday night.

Here, popular Black Cats fanzine ‘A Love Supreme’ give us the lowdown on the start to life under Regis Le Bris, Alan Browne’s first impressions at the Stadium of Light and more.

What impression has Regis Le Bris made?

We had a long saga between the conclusion of last season and his appointment where it seemed the club were never going to appoint a new head coach, so the reaction from a majority was just that we were pleased somebody was coming in at last. There was some negativity initially, mainly centred around his poor final season with Lorient. But I think as people learned about the specifics of his situation there (them basically selling all of their best players and bringing in a bunch of uninterested mercenaries) that's sort of died down a bit now.

He's spoken well in interviews and at a fan-attended talk-in at the Stadium of Light, which has helped his position greatly. However, the discourse around the club has been dominated by our current lack of a first-team ready striker still (at the time of writing anyway) and off-the-pitch goings on (the new Hummel kits have gone down really well, our new shop opened and the public relations has been really good over pre-season), so he's not been talked about as much as a new manager normally has, I feel. Overall, he's not done anything to suggest things will go badly and the atmosphere around him is generally more positive than when he first came in.

What style is he hoping to implement?

Possession with purpose is how I would summarise it. To be totally honest with you I'm not the most knowledgeable on football tactics, but from what I've seen in preseason (after the initial experimentation was over and done with) he likes a high pressing game and is attempting to make our game plan less focused on Jack Clarke. In the last game versus Marseille, we used dribbling from the likes of Browne, Mayenda and Roberts to move up the pitch more quickly. In the previous campaign that was very rare from anybody other than Clarke. We also seem to be crossing the ball more, something that was almost comically absent last year and in general we are much quicker and effective at creating chances when we get in and around the box. He likes his full backs to come high up the pitch as well.

How do you expect Sunderland to approach the tie?

We aren't that great when we have our second-choice XI out on the pitch. We may see some new signings feature as well and that means they won't be completely up to speed (thinking of Ian Poveda with that one). I'd expect us to have more than a fair share of the possession, but struggle to actually find the back of the net. Perhaps we won't be going all out to win it, as most Championship sides quite frankly are ambivalent to the League Cup - but some of our players will have a point to prove. If Preston want the tie though, it'll probably be there for you because we aren't clinical enough without our main players. Just remember your shooting boots and you'll most likely win.

What is the expectation this season?

Promotion doesn't seem like an expected, or realistic, goal for this season. Partly because we've lowered our expectations after a disappointing go of things previously and also because we still don't have an experienced striker amongst our ranks, at the time of writing anyway. I think the expectation currently then would be a significant improvement on 16th place, hopefully 12th or above. If we get a striker (or ideally two) we would then be looking at the play-off positions, but top half at least, for me, would be good enough.

How has Alan Browne looked so far?

He's looked bright. He's surprised me so far because he was brought in as our replacement for Corry Evans, who was a much more defensive-minded midfielder, but he's very willing to go forward and attack. His versatility will come in handy when the inevitable injuries start creeping in as the season goes on. I believe he will be one of our best players this season and the fact we got him on a free is a bit ludicrous. We sorely needed a seasoned Championship player to go in our midfield and now we have (based on pre-season) quite a good one.

Key men for PNE to be wary of?

Well, we won't play our main group of players. So we can discount the likes of Clarke and Patrick Roberts. Romaine Mundle has looked bright under Le Bris and he will likely feature, he's Clarke's understudy on the left wing. Zak Johnson could also feature, a young centre back from our academy and he's got loads of potential. Abdoullah Ba is second choice behind Roberts on the right wing, but he actually got more goals and assists last season. Then there's Chris Rigg in the middle of the park, and Adil Aouchiche is dangerous on his day as well.

Predicted XI and score prediction?

Simon Moore in goal, a new experienced backup for Anthony Patterson. Leo Hjelde, a Denmark U21 international, and the aforementioned Johnson in the middle of the defence. Timothee Pemebele, signed from PSG in January, as our right back and Joe Anderson - he spent last season loaned out to Shrewsbury Town - as our left back.

Chris Rigg in the middle and then Pierre Ekwah to join him, he's a France U20 international. Then Adil Aouchiche as our more advanced midfielder. On the right wing it'll most likely be Abdoullah Ba and on the left Romaine Mundle. Up front will be Nazariy Rusyn, has previously been called up for international duty with Ukraine but has not yet managed a senior cap.

My score prediction will be a 2-1 win for Preston. Rusyn struggles as a solo striker and therefore we won't find the back of the net until after a couple of your counter attacks have been profitable.