Middlesbrough striker Ashley Fletcher made the switch to Sunderland late on during deadline day and having now made his full debut in the defeat to Ipswich Town, he knew things could’ve been a lot different last weekend.
Having been selected to start the game at the Stadium of Light, Fletcher got through all 90 minutes for Chris Coleman in the two nil defeat but reflecting on the match he knew the least we should’ve taken was a point given how tight the affair was.
Both sides managed only two attempts on target each, but the visitors scored with their efforts late on in the first half and Sunderland largely had a mountain to climb in the second 45. Fletcher knew however that had we been a bit more composed when chances fell our way the advantage would’ve been ours before Ipswich got their noses in front.
Speaking to the Official Site he knew it had been a disappointing bow, but he backed the side to regroup and build on the positives given how we started the game.
That kind of start, but taking advantage of it, is paramount moving forward if we are to end the season on a high and avoid a double drop.
‘Everyone`s disappointed because in the first 35 minutes we looked very good. We looked dangerous going forward and we had chances to score, but then the sucker punch came with their goal and it knocked the confidence out of us a little bit.’
With further wasted in the second half and a potential penalty appeal turned down as well, Fletcher felt we’d shown enough in the match to turn things in our favour. There are enough games left in the campaign for that to still happen and the sooner it can begin and we can pick up those wins the better – if anything it’s now time to make our own luck and not rely on others.
‘When you`re down at the bottom things don`t really go for you, but we have to regroup, get a good week`s training and look forward to Bristol. Every game now is a cup final and the manager has said there are three teams we need to be better than at the end of the season, so we`ll be looking to bounce back next week. We`ve got a lot of games to go and only ourselves can get us out of this situation – we`re ready to fight.’
Fans will appreciate the sentiment but they’ll appreciate three points more.
