Lee Johnson press conference RECAP: Everything Sunderland head coach had to say ahead of huge Ipswich Town clash including details on Anthony Patterson recall, Nathan Broadhead and Aiden McGeady's fitness

“As a manager you always feel at the mercy of the footballing gods but I’ve got a strong belief in the players and the project at what we can do.

“I’m confident in what we can change and what we can improve.”

“With the young players we’ve got, particularly down that left side - let’s be honest if they were the finished article one would still be with Tottenham and the other would be at Man City.

“There’s clearly talent within our squad, we really believe that.

“For me the process over the last couple of weeks has been to make sure the individuals are honest.”

“Geads played unbeknown to us with a hamstring injury at Rotherham. It ended up having a detrimental effect in that particular game.

“We’ve had to go back to the drawing board with him.

“The game is about more than two or three minutes each individual has on the ball. He’s going to be an important player for us over the next 11 games. “

“We definitely had areas that we’ve had to resolve. There’s so many narratives in house. In football they get quickly highlighted in short-spells.

“We get to set off on a new journey and I think we can really stamp our authority on this division over the next 11 games.

“We want to prove to everyone we’re worthy of their encouragement and their belief.”

“Nathan is a really good player. I love watching him play and I love working with. I’m very grateful to Everton for allowing us to have him and trust us with his development.

“He hasn’t had as many minutes as he would have hoped which may be circumstantial of the good start and then the injury he ended up having.

“He’s certainly someone we’re looking to work into the starting XI.”

“It’s been a tough couple of weeks. You don’t like having that feeling ofnot winning football matches. You have to be honest enough to say that we’ve let people down.

“It’s a great game for us. Ipswich have improved really well. They didn’t have the best of starts but look where they are now.

When you’ve had as many games as I’ve had as a player and a manager you’re going to have these scenarios.

I’ve always maintained that passion has to be channelled. “

“Lee Burge has a hip flexor problem. He had it at the start of the season as well. We wouldn’t expect him to be out for too long. It’s probably a seven to 10 day injury.

“It would have been easy to keep Patto around and be second or third choice but he’s a bright young goalkeeper that has a real potential to be a future number one.”

It came at a very good time. We needed to recuperate.

We’ve managed to get minutes into players that needed to be a bit sharper.

I feel like we’re coming out of this spell in a good place

Here’s what Sunderland full-back Carl Winchester said about Ipswich ahead of tomorrow’s match.

“They signed a lot of quality players in the summer, and we know what they’re capable of,” he told SAFC.com.

“We’ve worked hard all week in training and I’m sure that will show during the game.

“It’s a great opportunity for us to take three points and build momentum ahead of a busy period.”

We’ll get a full injury update from Johnson this afternoon, and hopefully the break will have given some of his players the chance to recover.

Johnson said last weekend’s fixture postponement could be a chance to get Aiden McGeady up to peak fitness, while Ross Stewart had been struggling with a shoulder issue.

Stewart has been training this week, while fellow striker Nathan Broadhead returned from a hamstring injury before the break.

Lynden Gooch also came back into the side following a foot issue.