Elliott Dickman believes Sunderland under-18s face another physical test on Saturday afternoon against Doncaster Rovers.
With the start of the new U18 Premier League campaign just two weeks away, the young Black Cats’ preparations are reaching their final teething stages.
Having shown good character to claw back a two-goal deficit on Wednesday afternoon to earn a 2-2 draw against Oldham Athletic, Dickman has now urged his young guns to learn from their mistakes and prepare for another physically demanding test this weekend.
“The first years have played more football than we planned so that has put them in a good position,” he said. “We are looking after them and we are preparing as best as we can for games, but the fact that the first years have had a lot of game time means they are putting themselves in contention.”
He continued: “I would imagine Doncaster will pose a similar test. They all play in the same type of league so again it will be tough and we have got to be ready for that type of challenge.
“We want to play some nice football but at the same time we have got to earn the right to play, and against Oldham we didn’t do that
"We thought just had a given right to play how we wanted and that has to change this weekend.”
