George Brady believes Sunderland under-23s must raise the bar if they are to return to winning ways.
The young Black Cats began their Premier League 2 campaign in fine fashion and moved top after a hard fought victory over Everton earlier in September.
However, after suffering back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool in their last two games, Brady has insisted old fashioned grit and determination is key if they are to rekindle their early season form when they travel to Cardiff City in the Premier League Cup on Friday.
“We have got to lift our heads and just get back to working like we used to last season,” he said.
“We were more of a family last year and we fought for one another and that was a huge reason why we did so well in the league.
“We all want to do well in our careers and go on to great things but whenever you go onto the pitch you need to give 100%.”
He continued: “If you are not giving that then you can’t improve and go forward, so it’s important everyone shows what they are made of by their commitment.
“Cardiff is a good chance to put our last couple of games behind us but we can’t go there thinking it will be easy.
“It will be good for one or two of our players to get some confidence back, score some goals, keep a clean sheet and the go again in the league and do our job there.”
