Sunderland manager Regis Le Bris was reluctant to discuss the incident that saw the Black Cats' Premier League clash with West Ham temporarily paused. Granit Xhaka, not in the match-day squad but situated behind the Sunderland substitutes' bench at the London Stadium, became embroiled in a heated spat with a Hammers fan in the final minutes of the second half.

Xhaka missed out on captaining the north east club due to an ankle injury but still travelled to support his team-mates. But a supporter behind the dugout clearly angered Xhaka, whose confrontation with the man lasted several minutes. Referee Thomas Bramall eventually paused the game after being alerted to the incident by VAR as substitute Lutsharel Geertruida also got involved. Stewards eventually moved in to dissolve the situation.

Yet asked post-match what happened to trigger the verbal spat, Le Bris said: "The bench is too far from the sideline. I didn't see what happened and haven't spoken with anyone about it. We don't want to think about the environment, we are thinking about us.

"The main point at the minute is...