George Brady has stated his team-mates must understand the importance of hard work as Sunderland under-23s target a strong finish to their season.
With a European final to look forward to next month, last Friday ended in frustration as Chelsea produced a clinically-clean display to secure all three Premier League 2 points in West London.
That left under-23s chief Elliott Dickman frustrated just seven days after they had booked their place in the International Cup final, with a hard-fought win at Norwich City.
But Brady, who has been on Wearside for two years now, shared Dickman’s disappointment, admitting his team-mates need to perform to their best every time they cross the white line.
“We need to realise that we have to work hard,” he said.
“If we want to win games then we have to play at a much higher level.
“We can’t allow complacency to be an issue because we have to remember what we are achieving.
“We didn’t play as well as we did against Norwich and the young boys have been in the team long enough to know what is required.
“They are good players, we know that, but the character of the team wasn’t there against Chelsea.
“We haven’t won a league game in a long time but we have to remain confident because we are a good team.”
