Committed Cats will win over the crowd and win games – Grayson

PLAYERS WILL PUT BODIES ON THE LINE, SAYS BOSS

SIMON Grayson believes Sunderland’s players will win back the fans if they build on their season-opening display against Derby County.

Black Cats fans have been worn down by five successive Premier League survival battles, culminating in relegation in May.

And new boss Grayson knows the only way for the players to get the supporters back on side is by delivering committed performances – and ultimately results – on the pitch.

Sunderland took a first step in that direction on the opening day of the Championship season, outplaying Derby County at the Stadium of Light, and showing strength of character to fight back from a goal down to earn a draw in a game they deserved to go on and win.

And the crowd of just under 30,000 for a televised Friday night game showed their appreciation by getting behind the team from first whistle to last.

“I’m absolutely shattered, I kicked every ball,” said Grayson after his first competitive game in charge of the Wearsiders.

“The biggest thing for me was that you saw the players, they didn’t get affected by disappointment, and the supporters were fully behind them.

“At times it felt like it was a full house and the supporters appreciated what we were trying to do.

“Hopefully as we go along, we will get even greater numbers and even more of an atmosphere.

“But on Friday I thought the supporters were fantastic.”

Grayson told his players that he and the fans would judge them on their performances, and challenged them to nail down a regular place in his starting XI.

He said: “We said to the players before the game, you’ve got the shirt now make sure you’ve got it for a long time.

“That will be the basics of what the players need to do. If they are playing well, they’ll keep it.

“The fans will take to players if they work and score goals, make tackles, put their body on the line.

“Hopefully over the next few weeks we will put together a group of 20-odd players who supporters will feel an affiliation towards.”

Sunderland’s week leading up to the first game was far from ideal, with a humbling 5-0 home defeat at the hands of Celtic in their final pre-season friendly, and the unwanted distraction of midfielder Darron Gibson’s criticism of some of his teammates caught on a video which emerged on social media.