Elliott Dickman has challenged his players to strike a balance between producing smart attacking play and working hard off the ball.
Sunderland under-23s welcome Colchester United to Eppleton Colliery Welfare tonight, kick-off 7pm, looking to reach the quarter-finals of the Premier League Cup.
Dickman’s side finished top of Group B losing just one of their six matches, while tonight’s opponents Colchester knocked out Manchester City and Derby County to secure their place in the last 16.
With a European semi-final also on the horizon for the young Black Cats at the end of the month, the under-23s lead coach has urged his players to find a balance in their play, insisting their work off the ball needs to improve.
“We have done well in the cups so far this season,” he smiled.
“We have been pleased with the Athletic Bilbao game and the Blackburn Rovers game.
“I was quite pleased with some of the stuff we did at Burnley as well to be fair but just not the defending side.
“It is a building process and some of the play we are implementing into the players needs to improve.
“They know about it, though, because they have been brought up in the Academy and we are just trying to give them that confidence to try and play.
“There are spells in each game that we want but the trade-off needs to be that we are better when we don’t have the ball,” he continued.
“Colchester got through a tough group with Manchester City, Derby County and Hull City - it will be a tough test.”
TICKET INFO
Entry to the game is priced at £3 for adults and £1 for over 65s and under 16s, available via cash sales on the day of the game.
