We must up our game, admits Black Cats coach Dickman
Sunderland Under-23s coach Elliott Dickman says the club’s youth set-up must up their game and not be content with the progress they have made.
Dickman oversaw the second half of the campaign for the Black Cats’ second string, leading them to the final of the Premier League International Cup.
That final, however, turned into a chastening experience as a high-quality, experienced Porto U23s side ran out 5-0 winners with a breathtaking display of football in front of a big Stadium of Light crowd.
Dickman says the standards shown by the Portuguese outfit will spur on both himself and the players to improve their levels.
“It’s something I will never, ever forget,” he told safc. com. “The fact that there were 18,000 people there, the fact that the Under-23s were playing against a high-calibre team.
“Some of their lads had been involved in men’s football, their first team. Some had even been involved in Champions League squads so that shows how good the Porto lads are.
“There will be a little scar with me forever about the game. The result was really, really disappointing but there’s a lot of positives we could take from it.
“There’s so much more that I want to do to try to make the lads better.
“It spurred me on to think we have had a good taste of this and try to get something like this again.
“We need to up what we do a bit and not be content and happy with the work that we do.
“That night was special in a number of ways but a massive learning curve and learning experience for the staff and the players.”