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.
READ MORE: 'Battered us' - Accrington Stanley boss John Coleman's Sunderland admission despite friendly win
"We certainly had that yesterday - in fact, we could probably have won three games. We're just disappointed we didn't take them."
Sunderland still have one more friendly to play, at Hartlepool United tomorrow evening, to fine-tune their preparations ahead of their opening Championship game against Coventry City at the Stadium of Light next Sunday. "We want more of the same [at Hartlepool]," said Neil.
"We want to create enough chances to win the game, and we want to be defensively solid and cut out the mistakes. The players [who play] on Monday will get 90 minutes in their legs and then I'll have a decision to make over who to pick to play against Coventry."
Neil knows Sunderland will face a testing season on their return to the second tier after a four-year absence, and the challenges this term will mean he has to adopt a 'horses for courses' approach. He said: "One thing about the Championship is that nearly every game is very, very, different.
"You're playing against different shapes, different strengths and weaknesses in the opposition. We are going to have to fluctuate a lot like we did last year in terms of being able to handle and cope with some of the challenges that come our way."
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