Lynden Gooch has this message for Sunderland as he reflects on Coventry defeat and the automatic promotion picture

One point from two games against key promotion rivals has dented Sunderland’s hopes but with results elsewhere relatively kind over the weekend, Gooch believes the picture has not changed too much.

“We’ve come on leaps and bounds since the turn of the year and there’s still a lot of points to play for,” he said.

“It’s so tight and I think it’ll go down to the final weekend. You see how tight the table is and you saw this weekend that anyone can beat anyone in this league.

“Not much has really changed from last weekend, to be honest. We’re still in the hunt and we’re not far away at all, so we’ll just keep plugging away.

“We’ve just got to keep going and take it game by game, put this one behind us and look forward to Saturday,” he added.

“I try not to look at the table too much. I know how tight it is, and next weekend we could be closer to the top two again.

“It’s just the way this league is - it changes every week.

“We just have to keep going.”

In both the draw with Fleetwood and the disappoint defeat to Coventry, a slow start has cost the Black Cats dear.

Max Power rescued a point in the final seconds of the Fleetwood visit, but Matt Godden’s strike at St Andrews was enough to send Mark Robins’ side six points clear.

Gooch says it is vital Sunderland address that ahead of a return to home turf against Gillingham this weekend.

“We’re frustrated with the way we started the game,” he said.

“It’s a poor goal to concede after we didn’t start very well.

“But I think after the first ten minutes we were the better team. We pressed well, put them under a lot of pressure and created some good chances.

“Then the goal we thought we’d scored, that was a big blow for us.

“So we’re disappointed obviously, but I think everyone worked hard to try and get back into the game.

“We’ll be back in over the next couple of days and analysing what we haven’t done well in the past two games where we’ve not started well.

“We need to do better in that respect and give ourselves a better platform in games.

“The first goal is always massive in games. We have done really well since the turn of the year, starting games well and giving ourselves a good platform to go on and win games.

“We just need to look at what we’ve done differently in the past two games and correct that.

“We know how big that one [Gillingham] is now. We want to win all our home games.

“We were disappointed not to win on Tuesday, even though we got that last-minute equaliser.

“It ended up being a good point, but we want to win every game.”

*Sunderland legend Gary Bennett has teamed-up with former Black Cat Martin Gray to form a new elite football training academy – and are looking for youngsters on Wearside to take part.

Bennett and Gray have embarked on a joint venture to launch the MGB Academy, with the aim of providing more elite football training opportunities to grassroots footballers in the North East.

Speaking about the launch, Bennett said: “I am delighted to partner with Martin on the MGB Academy.

“We have worked together for many years and we are very much looking forward to supporting and developing the local footballing talent.”

Gray added: “We both thoroughly enjoyed our time at Sunderland during our careers and we look forward to providing further opportunities for the young people in the region.”

Both former Sunderland stars have management experience, with Gray having managed York City while both led Darlington. The duo are also both UEFA-qualified and are now keen to pass on their decades of experience in the game to aspiring players.

And youngsters can get involved with the academy courtesy of two taster sessions this month.

These will take place on Tuesday, March 3 and Tuesday, March 10 at Silksworth Sports Complex, Sunderland, SR3 1PD.

The sessions are open for 5-15-year-olds and take place from 6:30pm to 8:30pm on both evenings. Sessions will continue to run on a term-time basis and more information can be found by emailing [email protected]