Championship manager of the month for October Regis Le Bris is hoping to avoid another potential banana skin when his Sunderland side host Coventry City this afternoon. Le Bris was awarded the managerial accolade back in September for his exploits during the Frenchman’s first four league weeks in the Black Cats hotseat, after masterminding Sunderland’s impressive climb to the second tier summit at the start of this season. However, the day after his award was announced Sunderland were surprisingly beaten by Plymouth Argyle.

With the former Lorient boss scooping manager of the month again for October, he is hoping to avoid a similar fate when the managerless Sky Blues roll into town today. “I'm pleased,” Le Bris told his pre-Coventry press conference yesterday when asked about the award. “I’m pleased for the players, I'm pleased for the staff as well because there's a lot of work behind the scenes and I think this award is for the collective, it is a collective success so it's good for us but there’s still a long way to go.

” When quizzed about the possibility of the manager of the month curse coming to haunt Le Bris and his Black Cats side once more in the shape of Coventry, the 48-year-old added: “It’s a new challenge. I'm not superstitious so it's not a problem for me, it's a new challenge at home with a new experience, three games in a week so it's a tough week again. “At home we did well so far.

The last two previous games (QPR and Preston) were diffi.