Sunderland under-18s boss Mark Atkinson has challenged his players to bounce back following their 6-1 opening day defeat against Liverpool.
The Black Cats found themselves behind through Rhys Williams’ 16th minute header, before Bobby Duncan’s penalty and Paul Glatzel’s strike made it three at half time.
Sonny Best grabbed a goal to give Atkinson’s men some hope with just over 20 minutes remaining before any chance of a comeback was quickly extinguished by another three late goals from Glatzel, Jack Walls and Abdi Sharif.
Atkinson was disappointed with the way his side went down after handing themselves a lifeline, telling safc.com: “I just think it was a case of a lack of intensity and a lack of purpose.
“For 20 minutes in the second half we matched them, but that’s not enough. They’ve got to learn that when things don’t go their way they can’t crumble - they’ve got to get together, show a bit of leadership and a bit of character.
“We did that for 20 minutes in the second half, but as soon as the fourth goal went in their heads dropped and they can’t do that.”
The Black Cats have a week to put the opening day defeat behind them, with a trip to Wolves next on the agenda on August 18 before a seismic Tyne-Wear derby at the Academy of Light the following week.
“They’ve got to bounce back, that’s their challenge now,” stressed Atkinson.
“They’ve got to reflect on this game and learn from it but then they’ve got to bounce back, it’s down to us as staff to support them but it’s up to them to stand up and be counted for.”
