Mark Atkinson is hopeful his players can use the confidence gained from recent matches to fuel another impressive display at Derby County this weekend.
Last weekend saw Atkinson notch his first win as Sunderland under-18s boss, halting Liverpool’s rich vein of 13 matches unbeaten as Chris Allan and Ben Kimpioka struck to do the damage.
Tuesday then saw the youth team back in action, this time facing Newcastle United in a mini Tyne-Wear derby which ended in a thrilling 2-2 stalemate.
But now Atkinson has set his sights on extending the Black Cats’ form beyond this weekend with a physical test against Derby County standing in their way.
Speaking to safc.com, the youth team boss has hailed the attitude of his players, admitting they’ve dug deep to grind out results in recent matches.
“It’s massive because it gives the players that belief and confidence in themselves to try and build upon it,” he said.
“It’s two games unbeaten now for the boys and they haven’t done that much this season so we will all be ready for a hard trip to Derby now.
“It will be a tough game on Saturday, it always is against Derby, but we have got to go there with confidence and believe in the way we are playing.
“The most pleasing thing about the first half was that while we were 2-1 up, some of the things we have worked on in training has started to show more regularly and consistently, that’s massive and something to build on.”
