Jack Ross has turned up the heat on his players ahead of Saturday’s game against Hartlepool United.
Sunderland got their first taste of real football just a few days ago during a competitive pre-season match-up against Darlington, but the boss is already expecting to see much more from his team.
When the Lads take to the field against Pools this weekend, the Sky Bet League One season will be just three weeks away.
And speaking to safc.com, Ross urged his players to step up their preparations and produce more in and out of possession.
“It will be very much a reverse from Tuesday in terms of personnel,” he explained.
“The guys who only got 30 minutes tonight will get the best part of an hour, but I think we need to be better in several aspects.”
He continued: “Our quality and our work out of possession [needs to improve], and these are things we only have a few days to prepare for.
“We’re trying to get a lot of information across to the players in a short period of time, but they know as well as I know that Tuesday was a long way off of where need to be at for the first league game.
“Saturday offers us another opportunity to take small steps forward.”