Pritchard disappointed after admitting Cats’ draw feels like a defeat
Alex Pritchard didn’t hide his disappointmentfollowingSunderland’s 1-1 draw at Shrewsbury–admittinghissidedidn’t do enough to win the game.
The 28-year-old scored his firstgoalfortheclub,following hismovefromHuddersfieldin the summer, when he opened the scoring with a fine strike.
Shrewsbury were then reduced to 10 men when David Davis was sent off for a late challenge on Nathan Broadheadbeforehalf-time,yetSunderland
failed to make their man advantage count.
Dainel Udoh's equaliser midway through the second half was a reward for Shrewsbury’s tenacity and spirit, yet Pritchard knows his side should have been out of sight.
"It was nice to get off the mark and getting the first goal of the game, but at the end of the day we have come away very disappointed and it does feel like a defeat,” he admitted.
“I think going 1-0 up you kind of smelt blood, especially with them going down to 10 men. It’s kind of ‘come on let’s take it to them.’ 1-0 is always a dodgy scoreline but at the end of the day it’s not good enough really. With for the majority of the game them being down to 10menandbeing1-0up,it’sbitter to take.”
While the result clearly stung, Cats must pick themselves up quickly as they prepare to face Cambridge on Saturday.
“I’ve had some real bad results throughout my career and you do have to put it to bed very quickly, move on and forget about it,” added Pritchard. “You need to look at what you can improve on and what was good, but there was plenty more we can improve on.
"We will go over the video and train hard as we have done andwe’llgotoCambridgelooking for three points.”
Pritchard was deployed on the left against Shrewsbury and demonstrated his quality by cutting in from the flank to score. Sunderland will need moremomentslikethatasthey look to regain some momentum following a difficult spell.
“IplaywhereverI’masked,” said Pritchard.
"Throughout my career I have played on the left and I do like it out there because I can comeinonmyrightandIcango downtheside.Attheendofthe dayit’snotaboutme,it’sabouta collectiveasateamandwehave one job to do this year.
“I try and stay positive, we haven’t lost but it does feel like a defeat and everyone will see it like that, and I do as well. We havetogetbackonthetraining ground as we have a big game at the weekend. Hopefully, we can get back to winning ways.”