Sunderland under-23s must fine tune the sharp end of their attack if they are to score more goals, according to Elliot Embleton.
Last Friday saw the Black Cats exit the Premier League Cup in the last 16, losing 1-0 to Colchester United at Eppleton Colliery Welfare.
Wayne Brown’s side produced a resolute display to frustrate the development team, with Eoin McKeown’s ninth minute strike the only difference after 96 minutes.
Sunderland, though, weren’t without their chances.
Intense pressure from Elliott Dickman’s troops saw them camped deep in Colchester’s half for most of the second period.
But lady luck wasn’t on their side as Josh Maja had a penalty saved, a header ruled out for offside and then an attempt rebound off the foot of the post in the dying embers.
Speaking to safc.com, midfielder Embleton, 17, admitted the defeat highlights just how vital it is to be at your clinical best in every second of every game.
“We need to be ruthless in both boxes,” he said.
“We created so many chances against Colchester but we didn’t take any of them.
“If we are going to win games then we need to start taking them, we need to score goals and at the other end we need to stop conceding.
“We gave away a poor goal and that needs to stop as well – if we did score then it could’ve been a different game.
“It is an opposition we feel we should be beating,” he continued.
“You could say we have played well because we have created some chances and dominated possession, but most importantly we haven’t scored.”
