Andy Welsh has urged Sunderland under-23s to recapture their spark when they travel to Cardiff City on Friday.
The young Black Cats have hit a sticky patch in recent weeks following back-to-back Premier League 2 defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool.
But as the development team’s attentions turn to their Premier League Cup campaign, Welsh has insisted a response is essential as he looks to steer his side back to winning ways.
“The lads will learn so much from their last two games and especially last weekend by playing against a Premier League striker like Danny Ings,” he said.
“They will learn more than what they will on the training field and that is what we are about. We set off to win every game and last year we were fantastic at that."
He continued: “This year we are finding it a little bit more difficult, especially when you look at our results against Man City and Liverpool, but it’s all about a response now.
“We want to continue developing players for the next stage and making sure they are primed and ready when called upon.
“We have started very well to have got 10 points from our first six league games but against Liverpool while our effort was good our passing wasn’t.
“Cardiff will be good chance for us to get back on track and it's all about a response from the lads now.”
