Michael Beale issues strong message to Sunderland dressing room ahead of Hull City test

Michael Beale says he is happy to take the flak for Sunderland's heavy defeat to Coventry City but has urged his dressing room to respond at Hull City this afternoon.

Sunderland fell to a 3-0 defeat in Beale's first game as head coach, which he has admitted was an 'eye-opener'. Sunderland created a number of good chances to score but their long-running lack of ruthlessness in front of goal came back to haunt them once again.

Beale faces a battle to win over supporters underwhelmed by his selection as Tony Mowbray's successor and said he had no issue taking any criticism coming his way as a result of Saturday's defeat. He has made it clear to his dressing room that he expects a response, nevertheless.

Hull City pose another significant test, currently sitting in the top six.

“The Championship is a ruthless league where you play every three days, and we can’t have a hangover," Beale said.

"We don’t have time for it. We need to dust ourselves down, and we need to show a different face at Hull, for sure. They’re two huge away games we’ve got coming up. They’re against good teams, and teams that have things going on.

"There’s a new manager come in at Rotherham, and Liam Rosenior is doing an excellent job at Hull. We played against Coventry, and I was looking at them as a team who could potentially stop us from getting to where we want to get to this season. Hull are definitely in that bracket as well. They’re coming off a disappointing result at Bristol City, but the league is so up and down.

"We have to respond to what happened at the weekend. That was a big eye-opener for everyone. It was certainly an eye-opener for me coming in. A lot will be written about me coming in, and I get that. I’m happy to take what happened [against Coventry], but there’s got to be a response within our dressing room, for sure.”

Beale is hopeful that Alex Pritchard will be able to return to the squad after missing the Coventry City defeat due to illness.