Cats’ start smells like team spirit

THEY have made 12 new signings this summer and handed full debuts to three youngsters - but Lynden Gooch says it feels like Sunderland’s squad has been together for years.

Wins do more for team spirit than any bonding session can but the American says the squad chemistry is the best it has been for a long time – and it is showing on the pitch.

The 22-year-old youth product said: “We are a very young team but we have new players and it feels like we have known each other for a long time.

“There is a great chemistry there, we are good mates off the pitch, having a laugh. It has not een like that for years.”

The Black Cats have won four of their five games in League One but that is not the full story.

In all but one of the victories they have conceded first.

This from a team which had not previously come from behind to win since 2016.

That they ended that sequence at home to Charlton Athletic on the season’s opening day was crucial, claims Gooch.

He added: “We said that at halftime at Wimbledon – we probably did not play great against Charlton in the first half but we still came back and won the game. We did that at Wimbledon too.

“We can take a lot from that. We stuck together, the first half was not great but we dug deep and we were magnificent in the second half.

“It shows we have grit about us. I think some people might have said away from home we were going to struggle and this and that.

“We knew we were going to have a tough game at Wimbledon, there is no doubt about that.

“We had a tough start but we stuck together and dug it out.”

The Black Cats’ only dropped points this season came against Luton Town but they can still consider themselves fortunate.

Wimbledon and their physical play put their team spirit to the test and the Dons could have come away without a point after goalscorer Joe Pigott hit the post and midfielder Liam Trotter missed a good second-half chance.

Given their profile and resources, most sides in League One can be expected to raise their games when the Wearsiders and their big away following are in town.

Gooch added: “We are the biggest team in this division.

“Of course every team is going to want to try and roll us over if they can but on Saturday we dug deep and even the lads off the bench were terrific.”