Black Cats face ‘tough test’ after chances are missed
FORMER Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips says Sunderland missed a chance to make the second leg of the play-offs comfortable and now face “an extremely tough test”.
Sunderland beat Sheffield Wednesday 1-0 at the Stadium of Light in the first leg of the League One play-off semi-final on Friday.
The winning goal was scored by Ross Stewart in the final moments of the first half.
Now Sunderland travel to Hillsborough for the second leg on Monday night, hoping to defend their slender lead.
Phillips warned that players will have to “step up” if they are going to get to the final at Wembley.
Speaking on Sky Sports, Phillips said: “It’s only half the job done, it’s only half-time.
“There’s still a lot of football to be played and they wanted to take a lead to Hillsborough, they would’ve liked a couple of goals cushion because it’s going to be an extremely tough test for them.
“Sheffield Wednesday can certainly play better than they did this evening, they showed what they’re all about 25 or 30 minutes towards the end of this game so they [Sunderland] are going to have to stand down.
“It’s about the team again, they’re going to have to handle the atmosphere, a bit like what Sheffield Wednesday did for the first 15 or 20 minutes.
He added: “Every player is going to have to step up on Monday if they’re going to get a result, but they’re more than capable of doing it.
“They showed this evening, if they’d took their chances, the game could’ve been comfortable going into Monday but it isn’t and now they’ve got to go and get the job done.”
In the other semi-final, Wycombe Wanderers beat MK Dons 2-0. They play their second leg at Stadium MK on Sunday.