Senior Players Must Say This To Youngsters – Former Sunderland Star On Dealing With Loss
Sunderland suffered a 5-1 humbling at the hands of Stoke City, who are led by former Black Cats boss Alex Neil, on Saturday at the Stadium of Light.
Saturday’s match marked Sunderland’s heaviest defeat in 42 years at home and extended their winless run in the league to four games.
The former Sunderland star stated that the heavy defeat against Stoke City could affect young players in the Black Cats squad in contrast to the more experienced players, who can shake off the defeat and move on to the next game.
Collins stressed that the responsibility will be on the senior players like Alex Pritchard, Danny Batth and Luke O’Nien to guide the young players through the tough time while providing them with confidence.
“I hope this does not affect the players too much”, Collins said on Sunderland’s in-house media.
“5-1 defeat at home, especially in front of your home fans… Everybody’s been there as a player; it happens to the top teams.
“You have to try to dust yourselves off.
“Sometimes, it will affect younger lads more than the senior players, that’s what I have found in my early days.
“If you have had a bad result, it can stay with you until Tuesday or Wednesday, until you start building towards the next week, whereas as you get a little bit older, you have to let it go earlier and put it in the back of your mind.
“The likes of Alex Pritchard, Danny Batth and Luke O’Nien have got to get around the younger boys and say, ‘listen boys, that’s gone now, we have to focus on Norwich, we have to try and put things right’ because that’s three defeats on the bounce.”
Next Tony Mowbray’s side will take on Norwich City, who are undefeated in their last five games, on Sunday.
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