Elliott Dickman believes the foundations have been put in place for his side to have a strong season.
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Sunderland under-23s entertain Tottenham Hotspur this evening in the Premier League 2 as they begin their domestic campaign at Eppleton Colliery Welfare, kick-off 7pm.
The Black Cats have endured a challenging pre-season, with four friendlies against non-league opposition providing the backbone for the lads’ preparations after a fitness-fuelled trip to Austria with the first team.
But now with pre-season completed, Dickman has shared his pleasure to safc.com over how pre-season has gone, admitting he simply wants his side to carry on the good work they’ve put in during the initial weeks of training to aid their development.
“We have shown a really good attitude and without the ball we have been quite good,” he said.
“The messages have been consistent about their work ethic and we have to work very hard as a team.
“We have to make sure we are very competitive and without the ball we want to make sure that we don’t panic, we look after it and we play sensibly.
“It will be the same messages we have been using for the last six weeks.”
He continued: “The good thing was that we played against four men sides which was terrific for us and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
“There were different challenges for the lads physically, plus the fact that these teams have been around that level on a regular basis.
“They are a bit more street wise so they know the game a bit better and the tricks that can be used to their advantage.”
