'Have to be brave' - Sunderland coach reacts as under-18s suffer FA Youth Cup defeat against Derby County
Sunderland were defeated in the FA Youth Cup on Tuesday evening by Derby County at Pride Park
Sunderland under-18 lead coach Jordan Moore has called for bravery from his young side after they were knocked out of the FA Youth Cup by Derby County on Tuesday night.
The Rams got off to a flying start and took the lead with just three minutes on the clock before Trey Ogunsuyi netted an equaliser in the first half. Derby retook the lead after the break, with Sunderland pushing for a leveller before being sucker punched twice during the dying embers of the game to lose 4-1 at Pride Park.
“I thought for about 30 minutes after we equalised with a really good goal,” Moore said after the game. ”I thought we got back in the game. I thought we played some really good stuff, and showed that kind of spell was about what we're about. Setting off, we just couldn't get that rhythm and that fluidity to really click for where we needed the game to go.
“Like we said to them, it's very different to be playing at the academy on a Saturday afternoon, coming here. There is a little bit more, the lads have just said, their ability to notice things quicker in the moment in this environment was harder tonight, but that's a learning curve for them, something that I'm sure they'll take away and try and put right.”
“The goal is exactly what we see in training day in and day out, Moore said of Ogunsuyi’s goal against Derby. “I just thought the level of that being our really good stuff and the stuff that wasn't so good, we just couldn't get that consistency of it tonight. It just wasn't quite there. The goal is a goal that we score regularly in the under-18s league, so that is what we're about, the identity of the club, but we needed more of those moments tonight.
“When you come to places like this and environments like this, you have to be brave to execute things that we're asking them to do, which are challenging. We're not asking them to do easy things, we're asking them to do hard things, but by doing hard things this early in their journey, it'll put them in good stead as they progress through the under-21s and hopefully the first team.”