Sunderland U21s' defeat to Aston Villa U21s was a humbling reminder that there's work to be done behind the scenes. Of course, the group is still relatively new with a number of new faces coming through the door, after others departed.
The majority of the group has recently returned from a pre-season camp in Canada which meant they missed the opening game of the season against Norwich, while the likes of Harrison Sohna, Caden Kelly and Michael Spellman have been on the fringes of Alex Neil's first team. Interim-boss John Hewitson handed out two debuts to new boys Callum Wilson and Max Thompson and the lack of cohesion amongst the group showed from the very off.
That's not to say any of the aforementioned players were particularly to blame for any of the goals, it was just a disjointed performance from start to finish, not helped by two different managers taking charge of the two opening games. The young Black Cats left themselves with a mountain to climb against the Villains, conceding two goals inside seven minutes, before Brad Young added another two either side of half-time.
