Andy Welsh is keen to recapture Sunderland under-23s’ winning mentality when they resume their Premier League 2 campaign next Wednesday at home to Derby County.
While the development squad moved top of the league following victory at Everton last month, defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool saw them lose their place at the summit.
Welsh's young guns then came unstuck in the Premier League Cup as Cardiff City struck deep into stoppage time to earn a 1-1 draw before the international break.
However, the lads produced a valiant display at Hartlepool United in the Checkatrade Trophy and Donald Love’s second-half strike saw them return to winning ways, which is something Welsh is keen to build on.
“We have had a good couple of weeks training and we have had a couple of days break but we are raring to again,” he said.
“A lot of our players have been training in the first-team group which has been excellent for their development.
“To be able to train at that level for a period of time is fantastic. We are looking forward to next week and hopefully we can get back to winning ways.
“We have got to make sure our performances are good first and foremost because if we get that right then we will win games.
“We have had a couple of difficult league games against City and Liverpool but we were all delighted with our performance in the Checkatrade Trophy and it’s important we build on that against Derby now.”
