'Never relax': Sunderland boss sends this clear message as his go top of League One to end 2021

Sunderland will end 2021 on a high but Lee Johnson insists there is still 'mega bucks of work to do' to get the club back to where it belongs in the long term.
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The club's progress was underlined with the emphatic 5-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday, taking them to the top of the League One table though Rotherham United and Wigan Athletic have games-in-hand.

Johnson says his side have showed how they are developing in recent weeks, and how the new playing philosophy has taken root, but says that on and off the pitch they cannot afford to rest on their laurels.

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"First and foremost you're looking to implement what you need to do," Johnson said, when asked to reflect on 2021 as a whole.

Ross Stewart celebrates the second of his three goals at the Stadium of LightRoss Stewart celebrates the second of his three goals at the Stadium of Light
Ross Stewart celebrates the second of his three goals at the Stadium of Light

"There were big changes over the summer, there were good players already but we needed to make some slight changes in terms of how I wanted to play.

"That's not finished and we need to continue that.

"Statistically it's been a very successful calendar year, but unfortunately that means nothing!

"But all we can do is our very best, we're working extremely hard. We try to make the club a little bit better every day.

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"We know that Sunderland fans, and so many of our staff who are genuine supporters, live for these match days. When we win we lift the place, and when we lose it's down.

"We're putting so much in and we're working double time.

"We've had a lot of injuries etc. recently but we've been really strong in saying, 'no victim mentality'. And I think we have benefited from that stability in the team.

"We've put ourselves into a good position, simple as that.

"There's still a lot to do, honestly," he added.

"The minute you take your foot off the gas...

"On the pitch it can cover a multitude of sins [if you win] and off the pitch, if you lose a couple the cracks can quickly appear," he added.

"So we need to just keep doing what we're doing.

"There's a lot of roles still to fill behind the scenes, and we're working hard to do that, and to interview to get the right people.

"We need to keep the hammer down, simple as that.

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"It's a long project this one, taking out promotion and relegation.

"There's a lot to do to get us to where we want to be, and a win or two can't make us think we've cracked it.

"We have to drive forward.

"We've played some fantastic football in 2021, and the philosophy is there to see.

"We need to keep getting better at that, and maintain the focus.

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"We know how quickly it can turn in football, a red card, a bad performance, couple of injuries, COVID in the camp...

"You can't relax, there was a saying they had when my dad was Latvia manager, 'never relax'.

"That's what we've got to do in this charge in the second half of the season."

Sunderland now have an eight-day break before returning to action against Wycombe Wanderers on January 8th.

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