In what has been a miserable start to the season for Sunderland, Black Cats manager David Moyes claims theyneed to be 'braver' if they're going to put an end to their worrying habit of conceding late goals.
As reported by theSunderland Echo, Moyesalso claims his players must keep hold of the ball for longer periods in order to prevent tiredness later on in games -another contributing factor to those pesky late goals.
So what's the solution to Sunderland's current woes?
The 53-year-old Scot thinks the key is to be braver by wanting the ball more and pushing their opponents back.
Fair enough, but it's a little bit easier said than done.
In Sunderland's previous Premier League encounter,West Ham United scored the winner in the fourth minute of injury time at the London Stadium, leaving Moyeswithout a win after nine league games.
In a break from their miseries in the league,the Black Cats travel to St Mary's Stadium on Wednesday night for the EFL Cup fourth round clash against Southampton.
SUPER SWEDE 🇸🇪: Great to see Seb Larsson back in training as he continues his comeback from injury. pic.twitter.com/WuaugXXjKJ
Returning to the topic of Sunderland's varioushardships, Moyes claimed:We think that if we kept the ball more and passed the ball more and had longer periods of possession, we wouldn't be so tired at the end of the game. But that means us being braver on the ball, taking it and passing it.
I don't think it is to do with general fitness, but it is definitely to do with concentration levels.We've seen that on the four occasions when we have conceded late on.''
We have to strike a balance between being tight in defence but then hitting teams on the break,� Moyes concluded.