Sunderland full-back Trai Hume has told his side that they need to try and "dominate the ball" against Swansea City, while issuing a warning to the Black Cats' youngsters that they need to step up their game if they are to keep their place in the first-team.
Tony Mowbray's side take on Swansea on Saturday afternoon in their first home game of 2023. Sunderland will be looking for revenge over the Swans when the two sides meet at the Stadium of Light this weekend after they lost 2-1 away back in October.
A second-half goal from Jack Clarke was just a consolation for Sunderland that day, but having not lost in their last five matches across all competitions, Hume is hopeful that they can keep their run going against Russell Martin's side.
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"We need to keep kicking on," Hume told club media. "Obviously we've done well over the last few games getting good results and keeping that undefeated run of games, but the game coming up here at the weekend is a big game at home so we need to try and keep that run going."
The last time Sunderland played at home was in a 2-1 win against Blackburn on Boxing Day and Hume is looking forward to playing in front of their fans once again.
He said: "Boxing Day was a great day overall, scoring a last minute winner and obviously having that big game with a big crowd, everyone came there and it was good, but we need to obviously kick on and get the win here on Saturday."
Despite his side finding form over recent weeks, the 20-year-old is under no illusions at how tough a test their game against Swansea will be.
"Well, the last time we played them, the first half I thought they passed the ball really well and they basically ran the first half," Hume added. "Coming out in the second half, we started getting into the game.
"It was Jack Clarke who scored and we didn't have any strikers at the time. So it's going to be a big difference and obviously having big Ross [Stewart] back so hopefully at home we can dominate the ball the way they tried to do, pressing from the front."
Mowbray's side suffered their fair share of injuries during the festive period, but Hume sees it as a chance for the squad's youngsters to step up and prove they can be trusted to perform when called upon.
The defender said: "Over the festive period a lot of injuries came up so a lot of young players got the opportunity to play. You could see from their performances, a lot of them seem ready. They're fearless and they go out there and they play to win for their teammates.
"It shows the manager, it shows the fans it shows the other players that you can trust the young players to play. Obviously experienced lads are coming back now so it's gonna be tough keeping places and playing games every week."
The Black Cats will have half an eye on their FA Cup fourth round tie against Fulham, but Hume insists that they are just trying to take each game as it comes and not get carried away.
"We want to try and keep ourselves in every competition," he added. "We want to keep on winning and winning and it doesn't matter if it's in the cup or in the league. Having Fulham away is going to be a tough test. It's a bit away now so we're not really focused on that. We're focused on the game coming up at the weekend, but it'll be a good test."
Hume missed out on Sunderland's 2-1 win against Shrewsbury in the FA Cup third round, with Lynden Gooch returning from injury. Yet rather than bemoan his omission, the full-back looked back fondly on his run in the first-team and took the time to praise his fellow teammate.
He said: "It's been nice, I've been waiting a while to try and get a run of games but I've got them now so I need to just keep trying my best to get myself in the team. Goochy [Lynden Gooch] is back now we all know what Goochy is like, he's a good player, so I need to keep on performing to the level that I can."
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