Dan Neil’s honest Sunderland admission after Preston win plus dressing room reaction to Nazariy Rusyn’s goal

Dan Neil’s response following Sunderland’s 2-0 victory over Preston in the Championship at the Stadium of Light.

Dan Neil acknowledges that playing four games in ten days has made Sunderland’s last four games difficult.

At the Stadium of Light, Michael Beale’s Black Cats defeated Preston 2-0 thanks to goals from Alex Pritchard and Nazariy Rusyn in the first half.

“It’s obviously a tough period on the legs, also mentally as well trying to get yourself right for a game just two days after the last game,” Neil added. This is how the holiday season has always been, and we always anticipate that it will be difficult and taxing on the legs.

“I think the effort and togetherness the lads have shown over the last four games has been absolutely unbelievable. We have come away from the last three games with seven points from nine, which is a really good reaction to the Coventry loss. We stuck together and have come through this tough period.”

After joining Sunderland in the summer from Ukrainian club Zorya Luhansk, Rusyn scored his first goal for the team. Pritchard was voted Sky Sports’ man of the match. Neil said, “I’m over the moon for Naz.” As a team, we truly hoped that a striker would make an impact this season, and he has.

“Prichter always leaves a huge impression, whether he enters the game as a starter or off the bench. You must have noticed it today and thought he was fantastic coming in from the right side. We somewhat changed the direction from which we rolled in, and I think Pritch did a fantastic job in the part.

“2024 is getting off to a great start. Clean sheet. We may have needed to adjust our strategy in the second half because of fatigued legs. We were ahead 2-0, so we were kind of waiting for them to score. Although the second half lacked beauty, we completed the task.”

With this, Sunderland will have less than a week to get ready for their FA Cup third-round match against Newcastle at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.