Lynden Gooch admits there are times this season when Sunderland will have to 'suffer', as they did in the second half of their Championship opener against Coventry City. The Black Cats began their campaign back in the second tier with a hard-fought 1-1 draw at the Stadium of Light, with Gooch creating an early goal for Jack Clarke before Coventry's pressure in the second half eventually told and the Sky Blues equalised six minutes from time.
Sunderland were the better team for the majority of the first half but Gooch says there will also be spells in games where they will be on the back foot, because they are competing against a better standard of opposition this year. "It was a good point on the board," said Gooch. "It was a difficult game.
"I thought the first half we played really well, especially for the first 35 minutes or so when we posed a real threat and played some good stuff. I want to prove that I can play at this level, so for me to get off the mark by setting up a goal early doors was really good.
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"In the second half they made it more difficult for us but that's going to happen this season, there are going to be times when we are going to have to suffer and defend well, and we were just unlucky [to concede]. It was tough and really intense.
"In League One we have probably dominated most games, especially at home, but this season we are going up a level and coming up against better players and you can see that already. We had some good chances in the second half to get the second goal and we were just a bit unlucky, but I think it was a good point overall.
"We do have players who have played in this division before. which obviously helps, but we do have younger lads as well who haven't [played in the Championship before] so it is a learning curve for everyone involved. If we just keep trusting the manager and what he wants us to do, we'll be fine."
Sunderland head to Bristol City this weekend, with the Black Cats taking on the Robins at Ashton Gate. Nigel Pearson's team conceded an injury-time goal on the opening day which saw them lose 2-1 at Hull City and they will be stung by that, but Gooch says Sunderland must make sure they do not end up suffering the consequences.
He said: "It's going to be a tough game. They will be wanting to bounce back, obviously, because they lost really late on on Saturday and probably felt really unlucky not to get at least a point from the game. We know that they are going to want to try to get their first win on the board, but it's up to us to change that.
"If we keep playing well and doing what the manager wants us to do, I think we'll definitely gain more points than we'll lose this season."
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