Mark Atkinson believes his side’s performance against Blackburn Rovers can provide the perfect catalyst for his side to climb the U18 Premier League.
Sunderland under-18s were seconds away from coming home with a well-earned draw last weekend before Rovers nicked it in the last dying seconds.
The youth team battled admirably, though, and thought they had earned a point when Lee Connelly slotted home early in the second period.
However, following a positive week of training at the Academy of Light, Atkinson has praised the attitude of his players and called for them to take the positive energy into Saturday’s match.
“In terms of the performance it was very pleasing and there’s plenty of positives to take from the game,” he said.
“There was an improved performance from previous weeks but ultimately it was just very gutting for the lads at the end.”
“It’s something they have got to learn from and I’m sure they will because both goals were individual errors.
“We can prevent that and at this stage in their career they can learn from it – overall there is a platform to build from.”
He continued: “We have competed in spells in recent games and now it’s about making sure we stamp our authority on the game for 90 minutes.
“We want to develop the objectives we have set out from an attacking point of view and hopefully we can have some success on Saturday.”
