Sunderland must be ready and they must be ruthless when Manchester City travel to the Stadium of Light, says Jermain Defoe.
The Black Cats’ best opportunity at Everton fell to the club’s leading scorer as a fierce effort crashed agonisingly to safety after striking the underside of the crossbar.
And, to rub salt in the wounds, Romelu Lukaku dashed from his own half to bury the ball beyond Jordan Pickford and seal the points for Ronald Koeman’s side moments later.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s game against City, Defoe urged his team-mates to prepare well and be clinical in front of goal.
“The Manchester City game is a big one.
“We have to regroup, make sure that we train well and look forward to it.”
He continued: “We have to try and take something from the game but first and foremost we have to be solid because they’re a top team.
“There are positives we can take out of the Everton game because they’re tough to play against.
“They keep the ball well, they’re direct and Romelu Lukaku is a handful, but we created chances and we have to look at ourselves and improve.
“I believe we can create opportunities against City and hopefully we can score goals, but when we do create chances we have to take them.”