Lee Johnson's candid assessment of Sunderland's early progress and his preferred system so far

Lee Johnson concedes his Sunderland project is a 'long way from where it needs to be', but has been heartened by the early response of his squad.
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Johnson oversaw a bitterly disappointing 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic in his first game as head coach, but the Black Cats bounced back to book their place in the last 16 of the Papa John's Trophy against Oldham Athletic on Tuesday night.

The night had begun in auspicious circumstances, with Dion Sanderson withdrawn from the side less than an hour before kick off as the Black Cats realised he was in fact cup tied.

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Johnson had candidly said after the game that the club's standards 'needed to be better'.

Chris Maguire scores for Sunderland at Boundary ParkChris Maguire scores for Sunderland at Boundary Park
Chris Maguire scores for Sunderland at Boundary Park

On the pitch, Johnson has been tasked with overseeing the transition to a quicker press and a more progressive attacking style.

The head coach saw some signs to show there will be bumps on the road at Boundary Park, but feels he is getting the 'buy in' he needs to begin the transition.

“I’ll be honest with everyone – we’re a long way from where we need to be, a long way," he said.

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"On the pitch and off it. But all I can do is demand things from the boys and hope they buy in, and the fans buy in to what we’re doing. Hopefully, we’ll be bold with it. That’s what I want.

"We will get caught out with it at times. With the way we’re trying to high press, at the minute there’s a bit of a shortage of fitness to be able to do it for 90 minutes. There’s also the cohesion tactically that has to fall into place, and at the moment, the distances from top to bottom [between the players] are too big for my liking when we’re out of possession.

"But Rome wasn’t built in a day and we need to build this over a period of time. Hopefully, at home, with a crowd in, and hustling like we did against Oldham, that’ll create quite a powerful environment.”

Johnson has opted for a 4-3-3 system in both of his games so far, though added on Tuesday night that interim manager Andrew Taylor had been planning that switch for the visit of Wigan anyway.

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There is likely to be some flexibility in terms of systems in future, but for now the head coach seems comfortable with the balance it can provide him.

“That’s [the system] definitely how I’d like my team to play," he said.

"If you look at the individual profiles of the roles, then in the midfield three, I still really think you’re ideally looking at a six, an eight and a ten.

"We’re probably still a little bit of creativity short in those middle positions, although saying that, in this league, sometimes solidness and will can take you a long way, and that’s what those boys in there at the minute have got.

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"I thought they played really well the other night – Scowen and Power did well in midfield, and obviously Grant is really experienced in there and tidies up really well."

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