Benjamin Mbunga-Kimpioka has urged Sunderland under-18s to up their game following a disappointing home defeat to Stoke City on Saturday.
The Potters struck four past Elliott Dickman’s youth team before Mbunga-Kimpioka’s consolation goal late on reduced the arrears.
However, the defeat has left the young Black Cats pointless in the U18 Premier League after two games, and speaking to safc.com the Swedish winger has admitted the lads must improve quickly as they look to turn their season around.
“It wasn’t the best team performance but we have a great team ethic, a good mentality and attitude so we can’t afford to give up just because of a disappointing start to the season,” he said.
“Our performance hasn’t been at the top but we need to keep working hard on the training ground to put that right.”
He continued: “The start of the game is very important, we need to get at teams right from the start because we are up against very good sides with top players.
“We need to be prepared for the challenge because we have played some good football in spells but overall we know it’s not good enough.”
