‘Unhappy’ Sunderland players’ reaction to Preston draw should excite fans ahead of Coventry game

Add as preferred source on Google

Sunderland go into Saturday’s Championship clash with Coventry City sitting top of the table, but recent results have been less than perfect.

A 0-0 stalemate with relegation-threatened QPR last weekend was followed up by Sunderland drawing with Preston North End on Wednesday night.

Pundit Carlton Palmer believes that the Black Cats should remain confident against Coventry, but nerves will undoubtedly be present at the Stadium of Light if the match isn’t straightforward.

Another complication is their opponent’s managerial situation, with Coventry sacking Mark Robins in the buildup to their trip up North.

Nevertheless, Regis Le Bris’ comments on how his squad reacted to the draw with Preston should give the Black Cats fans confidence that they are ready to right the wrongs of the previous two fixtures.

Sunderland players were ‘unhappy’ with their performance against Preston

Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Le Bris revealed the Sunderland squad’s disappointment on Tuesday night was not at the result, but at their performance.

He said: “After the game, the players were not very happy, not because of the result because it’s still one point away, but because of the way we were not able to be proactive in that game [against Preston].

“A key point for us to develop is that control on the ball when we are [playing] away, to avoid the proactivity of the opponent.”

With such a young team, it can almost be expected that Sunderland will struggle away from home against the Championship’s more experienced outfits. However, it is a very good sign that the players are unwilling to accept this favourable expectation given their strong league position.

For Le Bris to fix this potential issue, though, lessons must be learnt from some of the alarming statistics behind the draw with Preston.

Stats show that Sunderland lacked control against Preston

In the match at Deepdale, Preston were able to impose themselves on Le Bris’ side by deploying accurate long balls for the Sunderland players to defend against.

Preston completed 31 long balls, leading to 25 touches in the Black Cat’s box. This combination of stats allowed the hosts to have eight shots in the Sunderland box, contributing to an xG of 1.60.

The answer the Sunderland manager is suggesting is to have more control of the ball to help reduce their opponent’s ability to attack but alarmingly, they only had 40% of the ball at Preston.

Therefore, if Sunderland are to garner more control in these tricky away fixtures, Le Bris must find a way to coach a level of composure into his young side. Enabling them to keep hold of the ball more efficiently and deploy the same attacking flair that sees them top of the Championship table.