Sunderland Head Coach, Michael Beale is adamant that his young side can push forward despite being defeated by North East rivals Newcastle United, and made clear that fans should continue to push expectations. Daniel Wales reports from the Stadium of Light.
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00:00 Black and white celebrations would not have been the outcome Sunderland head coach Michael Beale would have hoped for before the Wietein derby kicked off.
00:10 Sunderland struggled to match their Premier League rivals on the day and ultimately succumbed to a 3-0 defeat.
00:17 It's been a few days since then and heads will have had time to process the events that occurred.
00:24 Beale spoke of character moving forward from the result as he addressed the media.
00:30 Michael, derby defeats are always going to hurt but is it the way a team responds that shows their character?
00:36 Well with these young players there's a knowledge now of the gap, of where they want to go and play and where they want to take this team.
00:44 I feel the game was an eye opener in that sense.
00:48 So we have to drill down now on some of our belief and some of our work and some of our habits to make sure we're pushing towards it.
00:56 We've had real good signs if you look at the teams around us in Southampton, West Brom, Leeds, the other teams in the playoff positions.
01:02 We've beaten this season, Hull the team behind us, we've beaten recently, Preston just behind them.
01:08 So in the league that we're playing in we're showing really positive signs.
01:12 That was just a big jump on the day and I think the atmosphere for our players as well, for some of them, might have been the biggest one they've played in.
01:19 Those of a red and white persuasion will certainly have been subdued since the weekend but Beale offered reassurance going forward.
01:28 The fans have every right to push the expectations, that's why players want to come and play here because it's a club that expects to do well
01:36 and it's got a ferocious fan base in terms of big following and the passion behind it.
01:43 So we don't want to dampen their expectations at all. I want the fans to push that because that pushes me, my staff and the players.
01:50 So that's fine, we don't want to lose derby games. It was the first one in a number of years and it was the first one we lost for even more years than that.
02:00 But as I say, in the last two years with the club coming back in the Championship, getting to the playoffs and being in the position we are now,
02:08 you would say from the outside that the club is really pushing in the right direction, especially when you consider the age of the team as well.
02:14 Ipswich comes next for Sunderland and given several draws for the second place team in the league, I asked whether it was a good time for Sunderland to play them.
02:24 Well yeah, they've already gone and recruited two players to add to what they've got and so they're really pushing for it.
02:32 But it will get tough. There was a couple of weeks ago, or maybe a month or so ago, it looked like the top two in the league had pulled away from everyone.
02:41 Now all of a sudden it's looking a little bit tighter towards them and the other teams in the playoff positions.
02:46 As I say, every single game in the Championship you have to go to your maximum for my group to come out of that four games in ten days with me coming in as well and stay in those playoff positions.
02:57 I thought it was hugely positive to stay in there while we had the FA Cup break.
03:03 - Right.
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