Adam Bale has pulled no punches and admitted there are no excuses to Sunderland under-18s poor start to the U18 Premier League.
The young Black Cats have lost their opening three league games, with their latest defeat coming last Saturday as they were downed 3-0 at Middlesbrough.
Despite being reduced to 10 men after just 15 minutes, the youth team produced a valiant display as they frustrated their Teesside counterparts until the 75th minute.
Speaking to safc.com Bale has confessed while fatigue arguably came into play in the closing stages, there are no excuses to hide behind after they conceded three times in the final quarter of an hour.
“We defended well until the 75th minute despite only having 10 men on the pitch,” he said.
“We stuck to the game plan, we were compact, tight and we frustrated them for large spells.
“We made it difficult for them until the 75th minute but that’s why it’s disappointing because we didn’t fight until the end of the game."
He continued: “We know what we have got to do, we have practised it in training but there are no excuses and now we need to show a reaction.
“We can’t afford our heads to go down, if we concede we need to bounce back because there are no excuses to losing in the manner we did.”
