Tony Mowbray says Sunderland's first-half performance against promotion favourites Burnley has proved the Black Cats can compete with any team in the Championship - although he admits they have to be able to sustain it across 90 minutes. Sunderland and Burnley were two divisions apart last season, with the Clarets in the Premier League while the Wearsiders were in League One.
Now they find themselves at the same level, albeit their resources and the depth of their squads are poles apart. But in the first half at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland bridged the gap and took a 2-0 lead into the break. They could not maintain it in the second period, however, and Burnley came roaring back to win 4-2.
Burnley got a goal back soon after the break and Mowbray felt his players went into 'protect mode', although that was not the plan, rather than continue to play as they had in the first half. "The message wasn't to go into protect mode," he said.
READ MORE: Sunderland boss Tony Mowbray explains Patrick Roberts' absence against Burnley
"I think you have to give Burnley credit - they were in the Premier League last year and playing Manchester City, Arsenal, and Tottenham, while Sunderland finished fifth in League One. They have got some good players, they are a decent team, and they have a coach [Vincent Kompany] who has learned from probably the best manager we've probably ever seen [Kompany's old Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola].
"I don't want to be too harsh on the team - although I have been pretty harsh with them, to be honest, although that's for the dressing room and not for here [in public]. I think we are a team that can compete with just about every team in this league, and I think we showed that in the first half yesterday.
"The second half was disappointing, we are not hiding from that or making excuses for it, either. We hope it's a learning curve for the team, and when we get ourselves 2-0 in front again further down the line then we manage to see the game out and do different things.
"When you don't play with intensity against quality footballers, you are in trouble and that's a lesson for us - we have to sustain that for longer."
Sunderland are next in action on Saturday, when they travel to Kenilworth Road to take on Luton Town.
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