Sunderland focused on key improvements for Middlesbrough showdown
Back in the Sunderland team after suspension, Dan Neil reckoned the team were “all gutted to lose our first game of the season”. The Black Cats’ skipper has had a mixed start personally so far, playing his part in the opening two wins, getting sent off in the third and missing the fourth.
His return to the team in place of Alan Browne coincided with the club’s first defeat in the Championship so far this term.
Reacting to the defeat at Plymouth Argyle Neil told the club: “It was probably a game of two halves.
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“First half we controlled the game in and out of possession. I thought we had good control, used the ball well, used the wide players in wide areas really well and defended well man for man in the block. The second half was always going to be different, it was always going to be difficult. It’s a tough place to come and we just didn’t adapt to how they came out in the second half. They came out with a bit more energy and we just didn’t adapt to it.”
He added: “We’re all gutted in there that we’ve got our first defeat of the season. We can’t let it get on top of us too much. I think if we had said we would have won four out of five at the start of the season everyone would have taken that. But yes we are disappointed.”
He said now was a time to see what went wrong and added: “We’re going to look at it, analyse it, see where we went wrong but we need to remember we are still in a very good position. And we’ve played some very good football this year and played some good games in a good style. We will get home, rest, analyse it, put it to bed and get ready for Middlesbrough.”
While it is important not to dwell on defeat, Neil says there is a need to pick the bones out of the performance to make sure the players improve.
“We need to get it out of our system but I don’t see why we shouldn’t reflect on it, we have to do that,” he said. “To see where we went wrong because we have to come to places like this more this year. I think these are the types of games we lost last year. Although we started the season well these are the types of games we have to be bang up for. We have to make sure we are winning duels, running harder and things like that. There’s definitely things we need to reflect on, get out of the system and get ready for next week.”