With preparations in full swing ahead of Sunderland under-23s’ trip to Liverpool on Sunday, Josh Robson believes the defeat to Manchester City last weekend came as a wake-up call.
The young Black Cats were tireless throughout but conceded four goals as the Citizens inflicted Sunderland’s first Premier League 2 defeat of the season on them.
Moments of magic from Rees Greenwood and Elliot Embleton gave the hosts a glimmer of hope, but the lads were made to rue poor defending as City held out to earn all three points.
With all focus now on their trip to Liverpool, full-back Robson told safc.com all the lads are eyeing a response at Liverpool this Sunday.
“It is another big game but we are all looking forward to it,” he said.
“We know we need to get a positive result to stake our claim at the top and the more games we win the more chances we have got at staying up there.
“It was a lot better in the second half against City but it wasn’t our best performance. The one positive we can take is that we have had one slopping game, the rest have been good and I think we probably just needed a kick in the right direction to keep going.”
He continued: “Maybe that was it, but we need to go to Liverpool and look to respond because we know defensively we conceded some sloppy goals and we need to do better in those areas.”
