Everything Lee Johnson said on Cheltenham, Portsmouth, Denver Hume, Ross Stewart and Arbenit Xhemajli

Internally it’s easy to manage expectations. All we can control is improving performances. I don’t think we have a group that will get ahead of ourselves.

Today’s training was a bit sloppy and we were aggressive on demanding standards. We could have let things slide but we wanted to set standards.

I think the challenge will be in the winter with young players. In the summer the pitches are nice and the sun is shining.

We’re taking both players day by day. We have been pleased with both for different reasons. They are different injuries. Denver has been moving well and is nearly ready.

I might look to start him in that Papa Johns game and then look to withdraw him.

Arby I’ll be looking to play in some under-23 home games.

On Stewart: My good friend Brian McCdermott. I was pretty close to taking another job. We were talking. It was a Championship role and we were talking about potential players. He has a really good eye. We had a good watch of him for someone else!

Then he was on the radar. Rosco turned down Championship clubs to move to Sunderland.

Naturally, I am attracted to the Embleton type of player but Stewart offers something different.

It isn’t always easy as there’s 100s of hours of analysis that has gone in. You pull in all of this information and then you go in a dark room and pick a team.

Sometimes in comes off, sometimes it doesn’t. You hope you make more right decisions than wrong ones.

I wish I could enjoy it. I have so much on my mind regarding the Papa Johns and internationals. You often don’t get a chance to enjoy it but you get enjoyment when the fans are happy. I’m a people pleaser.

That connection between the style of play and the brand.

Generally it is down to the players and they are the warriors stepping over the line.

I’m excited about where we can take this squad. I’m a bit warped, I tend to get excited about the philosophy.

The fans should have the freedom to feel exactly how they want. If they they want to keep us honest then that is fine. We try and educate the players to deal with all different atmospheres.

We have a target on the front and back of us. That can have its benefits. It’s all psychology, we talked about it in the Fleetwood game. The lads know exactly what we are after.

But we have got an opponent who are trying to disrupt us.

I think the Burton game, we couldn’t get much better than that other than finishing our chances and we’ve managed to bounce back from the Fleetwood draw.

Sometimes the pressing and energy we put into the first 75 mins leaves us fatigued

Composure is one of the big words we use but is hard to be tangible. you can be a really good finisher in training but when the fans are there it’s different.

But we can be a real force if we improve.

Dajaku had a couple of chances. What is nice is that his mam and dad were there to see him. It was a beautiful finish and great work from Nathan Broadhead.

We try not to get too caught up but we have to respect Portsmouth as they have a really good fanbase. It is a difficult place to play and they have an excellent manager.

We are still trying to improve in a number of ways.

We are always aiming for control. We didn’t kill Bolton off and that became difficult to manage. But we god through it.

It was nice to score five. We felt it was coming. The fans got a real treat. 24 hours we celebrate and enjoy it but we have to knuckle down now.

We don’t mind who scores as long as we’re winning. Nathan was frustrated he didn’t score last night but he played so well. We have to stay consistent in being pleased for your mate when he’s the hero.

You want threats all over the pitch. It was nice to score a set play. We have earned that.

Lee Johnson is due to speak to the media ahead of the Portsmouth game on Saturday.

We’ll have live updates as the Sunderland head coach answers questions.