Andy Welsh reserved special praise for his backroom staff following Sunderland under-23s’ victory at Southampton on Friday.
The young Black Cats produced a mesmeric second-half display to secure a valuable three points, courtesy of goals from Joel Asoro and Josh Maja.
Asoro latched onto Elliot Embleton’s slipped pass to put the visitors in front on 49 minutes before Maja poked the ball home as Asoro turned provider shortly after.
Victory on the south coast has been made all the more impressive following Sunderland’s quick turnaround in fixtures, which saw them exit the Checkatrade Trophy last Monday at Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Speaking to safc.com, Welsh hailed the work his backroom staff had put into preparing the players ahead of their combined round-trip of 1,076 miles in just five days.
“It was a tough night on Monday because we got back very, very late,” he said.
“Scott Ainsley from the sport science part of things planned the week in terms of their training schedule and the recovery periods.
“He got that spot on because we rocked up at Southampton on Friday and had a real intensity about our play even though we had a really gruelling week.”
He continued: “Fair play to the lads and the staff have done a great job with them and made sure they are ready to go.”