Dan Neil has warned his Sunderland teammates what they need to do after the international break.
Sunderland have endured one of the worst periods of football they have been through in a very long time, having picked up only one point from the previous seven games in the Championship.
The Black Cats have had to deal with a very young squad this season in particular, with the likes of Danny Batth and Alex Pritchard leaving the club. The lack of experience at the Stadium of Light is something that Dan Neil has already admitted has proven to be an issue in the dressing room.
The 22-year-old has been one of very few positives for the Black Cats this term, while he has on occasion had to take the captains armband in Luke O’Nien’s absence.
While the latter is set to return to the team after the international break, Neil has taken up his leadership duties to send a message to his teammates ahead of their meeting with Cardiff City next week.
Speaking to Sunderland Echo, Neil said: “It’s frustrating. I think I’ve been in the stands when there have been implosions in the past,” admitted Neil. “I think everything has kind of been fine and dandy the last few years and everything has kind of been smooth sailing. I think this year was going to be a tough year regardless.
“I think last year everyone was just kind of happy, we’re tenth, we’re ninth and then all of a sudden we’re in the play-offs. I think that has kind of sparked a massive ambition from, especially the fans and I can understand why. I think when you finish sixth one year, even us as players, you want to go and finish fifth, or finish fourth, or you want to be competing for the top two.”
Sunderland need to ‘take accountability’
“It just hasn’t gone our way this year and we need to look at ourselves for that,” he added.
“We need to take some accountability. The mentality is still there within the group and we are going to keep fighting. The last eight games are massive and we will be trying to win them all.
“I was saying it the other day, you don’t want to be going into the last few games of the season playing for nothing, because it just breeds a bit of, probably a bit of laziness because we can’t go up and we can’t go down. That’s why after this international break we have to hit the ground running and we have to put a run together so at least we have got a glimpse of it going into each game.
“I think there’s no worse feeling than having nothing to play for. I think we need to use this international break as a reset and come out all guns blazing to finish the season.”
Why Sunderland will improve after the international break
Most teams in bad form do use the international break to identify the problems and attempt to resolve them.
Mike Dodds will no doubt be doing that, and in all honesty, I have no faith in him to make any improvements himself.
The two people that will help us turn things around (though not particularly dramatically) is Corry Evans and Aji Alese.
Evans is the experienced figure we have been crying out for since he got injured over a year ago, and we haven’t really replaced him in the midfield since. Once fit, there is absolutely no reason why Evans shouldn’t be starting.
Meanwhile, Alese has undeniably been one of our better defenders whilst fit and can even play centre-back if Dodds wants to change up the formation again. Leo Hjelde hasn’t done enough since he came in and I think I would feel a lot more assured at the back if the former West Ham man took his place.
Players returning from injuries is always a massive boost to the team, and I imagine it won’t just be the fans that are excited to see their captain back in the dressing room.