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.
