Sunderland were resolute against Wolverhampton Wanderers and gained much confidence from the result.
Given that they are currently in 21st place in the Championship table, it is clear that there is still much work for Sunderland to do in their quest to avoid relegation.
Chris Coleman’s side can, however, draw much inspiration from the spirited defensive performance they produced recently to hold league leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers to a goalless draw at Molineux.
Defensive resilience has not been one of Sunderland’s strengths this season, as demonstrated by the fact that they have conceded 38 goals in the Championship.
However, the display against Wolves indicated that Sunderland are capable of performing well at the back if they focus mainly on defending.
The draw against Wolves gave Sunderland much confidence and the Black Cats subsequently secured a 1-0 victory over Fulham at the weekend.
Next up for Sunderland is a home game against struggling Birmingham City before they face Sheffield United away on Boxing Day.
Against Birmingham, Sunderland can afford to be a little attack minded in their approach, but when they face Sheffield United, who are going for a place in the play-offs, Coleman’s side should look to replicate the display that they produced against Wolves.
That performance should give Sunderland the belief that they can at least take a point against the division’s best-performing teams, which will certainly aid their quest to avoid the drop.
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