Sunderland departed West Yorkshire 13 months ago on a snowy February night with their hopes of automatic promotion from the Championship seemingly in tatters. Leeds had come from behind to clinch a 95th-minute victory that took them top of the second tier and only the most optimistic visiting fans expected a rematch this season. Fast-forward to a balmy March evening though and Régis Le Bris’s well executed game-plan lifted Sunderland to the 40-point mark and 11th place in the Premier League .