Sunderland Under-21s coach Graeme Murty has pointed to an area where the first team are ‘incredibly difficult’ to play against and urged his side to take a leaf out of the book of Regis Le Bris’ men.
Murty’s Sunderland U21s side have been in action in the Premier League 2 and most recently took on Everton.
It was a thrilling away game against the Toffees, which had seven goals in total, but Sunderland came out on the wrong end of a 4-3 scoreline.
Sunderland were 2-1 up at half time, but quickly fell behind in the second half and though they eventually levelled with 20 minutes left, a late Everton goal saw them leave Merseyside with a defeat.
Murty identified an area of the game where the Sunderland senior side are superb and is keen for his men to match that.
“The first team out of possession are incredibly difficult to play against, incredibly difficult. Incredibly difficult to create chances against. We’re not”, Murty told his club’s media.
“And I get that we’re a lot, lot younger and we’re a team that’s just got together, but we need to have a better understanding of how we defend and want to defend our box far, far better than we are.”
Sunderland’s senior side currently sit a lofty second in the Championship table, while the Under-21s outfit are 17th in the Premier League 2 after playing four games.
They are next due for another away clash, this time at Fulham.
