Elliott Dickman has urged Sunderland under-23s to build on their European success when they take on Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Friday evening.
A 1-0 win over Norwich City one week ago saw the Lads book their place in the Premier League International Cup final, with FC Porto standing between them and a momentous achievement.
Before attention diverts to the showpiece final, though, Dickman and his side head to the capital to take on Chelsea’s under-23s in the Premier League.
And speaking to safc.com, Dickman challenged his players to replicate, and build on, a fine performance at Carrow Road.
“Playing at Stamford Bridge is something the lads – and the staff – should be looking forward to,” said the under-23 boss.
“It’s an important game for us and we want to try and replicate what we’ve achieved in the European cup, and take that form into our league games.”
He continued: “We’ve had a good week and the players have trained really well so we really want to build on last week’s achievement, while also maintaining that momentum and level of performance.
“There were also things we could do a little better so we’ll try and do that against Chelsea, but it’ll be a good challenge and a competitive game so we’ll need to make sure we do the basics.
“We want to play better in every game so if we see signs of that tomorrow we’ll be happy, but like I said we’ve had a good week so to top it off by playing Chelsea at Stamford Bridge is a great opportunity for the players.”
