Alex Neil says it is no bad thing if Sunderland make their mistakes in pre-season rather than when the Championship campaign gets under way next weekend. The Black Cats lost their penultimate friendly 2-1 at League One Accrington Stanley yesterday, having failed to convert enough of the multitude of chances they created, and then in the second half making defensive errors that were punished by the Lancashire side.
But while Neil was disappointed in those two aspects, he was pleased with the majority of the performance which saw his side dominate the majority of the game and carve out enough opportunities to win handsomely - even if they did not take them. "It's probably not a bad thing," said Neil of the result.
"As I said to the players in there [the dressing room], it's a wee kick in the nuts before the season starts and sometimes you need that to ground you, so you know where you are. When you come away from a game, you want to come away having created enough chances to win.
