Vito Mannone has issued a rallying cry to his fellow Sunderland counterparts and called on his teammate to build on their Tuesday night draw against Spurs.
Following a run of three straight defeats, the odds were stacked against David Moyes' men but the hosts delivered a strong and competence performance against a strong Tottenham side. The Wearsiders could have easily taken all three points but Fabio Borini’s poor show in front of goal meant they were unable to do so.
At the back, Sunderland were pretty much untroubled and managed to keep Spurs at bay. Mannone’s clean sheet is the club’s first in the league since the week before Christmas when the Black Cats beat Watford 1-0.
Whilst it is unarguably a brilliant result for Sunderland, it’s important that they build on it as drawing with the likes of Spurs and Liverpool is fruitless when they deliver lacklustre displays against the likes of Stoke, Swansea and West Brom.
Looking forward
Vito Mannone said: “At the end of the day it's a good point, it's a base for us now to try to defend this way, keep clean sheets, then get a few chances."
He added, "I thought in the first half we could nick it, JD [Jermain Defoe] and Fabio [Borini] had two or three chances. Now we have to repeat this performance every game."
There’s no better way for Sunderland to continue what could possibly be a positive run by getting one over on Sam Allardyce. The new Crystal Palace boss faces his old club at Selhurst Park on Saturday and the Black Cats will be out to hurt their former manager.
Allardyce broke Sunderland hearts when he left the club in the summer to follow his dream of England manager but after throwing it away after one game having been exposed for revealing FA secrets, Sunderland fans are right to begrudge his stupidity.