Lee Johnson is still confident of turning Sunderland's bad form around, and has spoken about expectations at the start of the season...
BELIEF
"We can easily turn it around. We've got good players and we fully believe in the process of what we're doing. Little things will start to swing [for us], I think. We've got a good period to rest and recuperate."
INJURIES
"We've had a fair few knocks and niggles, people like Aiden who had been playing two or three games on the spin with niggles. Ross Stewart is having his shoulder analysed, and we might need an injection on that. Players like Embo and Gooch, have been a little bit rusty, Pritchard got another ninety minutes under his belt. We should be in a position of strength come a week Saturday. We're alright."
REACTION
"I don't look at the reaction and that's not being disrespectful to the media or to the fans.
It's because I want to be pure in my decision making as much as possible. We need to finetune what we're doing, hone in on certain areas, and get players back to full fitness. I think it will improve very, very quickly when we do that."
IMPORTANT PERIOD
“We’ve obviously got 30 points to play for up until January 2nd, possibly 33 depending on FA Cup scores and potentially a game added in. It’s a big six or seven weeks for us. I think this period now is so important. This ten days between now and the Ipswich game is going to be so important. To get that health bar of the squad right back up to where it needs to be and then that gives us the opportunity to rest, rotate and recover as much as possible."
MORE TO DO
"There’s still a bit more to do, if we’re adhering ourselves to the standards that we’ve set. It’s not a given that these players will get their chance, they’ve got to earn their chance and they earn their chance in every opportunity. Whether that’s training, to set the tone, whether that’s games like tonight (against Bradford in the Papa John’s Trophy), to set the tone or whether they come on in a matchday in the league or in the FA Cup."
NO EXPECTATIONS
"We came into this season with people not expecting anything, then we started really well and maybe we believe our own hype a little bit, then we have this blip - but I honestly believe it is a blip."
