Alex Neil spoke about the importance of results, and refuses to give in to the pressure that comes with managing Sunderland.
IMPROVEMENTS
"I think that’s been the case for the last 15 games since I’ve came into the building. So to label it as a good time because we drew with Lincoln, I don’t think that’s a fair reflection. What you’ve done is took one game. We’ve lost one game in eight. We’re undefeated in six. We’ve kept four out of five clean sheets. So depending on what spin you put on it you can either make it a positive or a negative. What we do know is we’ve got seven remaining games, we need to win the next one and that’s what we’ll try and do. That’s always been the case, it's not any different because there’s seven remaining. It’s the same conversation when there’s six, when there’s five, when there’s four because they all become equally important."
PRESSURE
"I understand how big of a club it is so I don’t need any more pressure piled on to make me aware of the task at hand. There've been plenty of people before me that’ve tried to do this job and it’s not easy. So let’s take it one step at a time, let's focus on Saturday and then we’ll talk about the rest of it afterwards."
PROMOTION
"What I’ve said to players since I walked in the building is ‘listen, whatever your plans are, whatever your angle is, you need to park it. You need to park it for 15 games and focus on one thing and one thing only- and that’s trying to do the best we can before the end of the season. The simple fact is, as any individual: your status, your position gets strengthened by us being successful. So whatever it is, whether it’s you want to stay here, whether you want to move here, whether you potentially don’t get another contract here and you’re going elsewhere. If you get a promotion on your CV and get this club out of the league, your position irrespective of what it looks like will be markedly improved. So the only sole focus for everyone at the moment is doing the best we can."
NEGATIVITY
"I just find it funny. I know we’ve not had a good time but the negativity (in the media) is incredible! Listen, it is what it is. We just need to try and focus on winning the remaining games. I don’t get caught up. I don't lay in my bed at night and think if I’m the guy that can get us into the Championship. I don’t think that way."
