Alex Neil says his Sunderland players will have learned a valuable lesson following Coventry City's late equaliser last weekend. The Black Cats looked to be on course for a winning return to the Championship after Jack Clarke's early goal put them in the driving seat against the Sky Blues at the Stadium of Light.
But Coventry's Sweden international Viktor Gyokeres made the most of a yard of space outside the penalty area to turn and pick out the bottom corner to level things up six minutes from time. Going into the season Neil had warned that playing at the higher level meant coming up against teams that would be more ruthless with any chances - or even half-chances - that come their way, compared to the sides that Sunderland had faced in recent years in League One.
And the manner of Coventry's equaliser proved his point. "That's what I was meaning," said Neil, whose side travels to Ashton Gate tomorrow to take on Bristol City.
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"It's not to say that guys in League One can't do that, but the likelihood is that they are probably going to need more opportunities to do it. I think we limited Coventry to two shots on target and they scored one of them, and it was from outside the box.
"It was a moment of quality, but in every goal there are three or four things that we could fix before it gets there to stop it from happening. The game went on and there were some tired legs, tired minds, they made some changes, the dynamic of the game shifted a little bit, and unfortunately that one moment cost us.
"That said, the lads have taken a lot of heart from the game. They know they played well in spells, they know organisationally they were very good, they were disciplined, and we limited a very good team to very little.
"Equally, that one moment showed them the difference in levels because the intensity never stops and the quality when that chance does come means the likelihood is they are going to damage you."
All-but one of the players who started on Sunday had helped Sunderland climb out of League One via the play-offs last term, and four of the side had not played at Championship level before. Asked about the difference in level between League One and the Championship, Neil said: "There are a few fundamentals really.
"The intensity of the game is one. The levels that we churned out physically were far greater than they were in League One, and that isn't because we didn't work as hard in League One, it was because last Sunday the game went on for 96 minutes without a lull or a break, whereas last season when we scored teams sat back and it was a case of us trying to break them down.
"Then there's concentration. If you switch off for one moment in a game, the likelihood is that the opposition is capable of punishing you, whereas the conversion of chances in League One is far lower.
"When you take all those components into account, it's a really steep learning curve for young players. There are huge demands on these lads in terms of where we expect them to get, where the fans expect them to get. and the team to be, so I thought they put in a really good showing last Sunday."
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