PRAISE FOR CATS' LATE POWER SURGE
Goalscoring hero Max Power hailed Sunderland's effort and desire in securing a lastgasp point against Fleetwood Town - but stressed the squad would be 'hard' on themselves and assess why they started so poorly.
Sunderland fell behind to a fifth minute Barrie McKay strike, Fleetwood then time-wasting to frustrate the home side and support.
Phil Parkinson's side kept plugging away, Power latching on to a Duncan Watmore lay-off to seal a point in the 97th minute.
Reflecting on the lastgasp equaliser, Power said: “It was a bit of relief, obviously.
“We didn’t start well but from then on I thought we dominated and created some good chances, maybe we just lacked that ruthlessness of recent games
“But you can’t fault the effort and desire from the lads to keep going and we managed to get the equaliser in the end.
“If you are not going to win the game, then don’t lose it.
“We take the positives and will learn from it too and be hard on ourselves, watch those first 10-15 minutes back and see where we went wrong.
“We gave them something to hang on to, they were 30 seconds away from getting a really good win.
“Six minutes added on probably because of the amount of time-wasting, I get that, they are away from home and will try and slow the game down.
“We drove each on and got there in the end, there is a good togetherness in the group.”
Power has been handed the skipper's armband by Phil Parkinson and the former Wigan Athletic midfielder is relishing the responsibility.
He added: "I take great pride in leading the lads out, it is a great privilege and I feel like I am growing into the role.
“It is not about me scoring, it is about the lads digging in and the fans sticking with us.
“Hopefully, that is a good point.
“We would love to have won but it was important not to lose.
“The league is anyone’s to take, it is who holds their nerve now and puts that run together.
“We are all helping each other and striving to get in that top two.”