If the Black Cats want to be playing Premier League football next season then they surely need to swagger rather than stagger into the play-offs.
But further doubts and anxieties would have crept in had Regis Le Bris’ side failed to beat the Lions on Saturday on the back of the Coventry no-show before the break.
A reaction was required and while Sunderland were nowhere their best on Saturday, what Le Bris – who admitted his players looked shattered at Coventry – liked was the fact batteries looked recharged.
“We showed our energy is our main strength,” he said.
If that’s the case then taking penalties is surely Sunderland’s main weakness.
It’s now four misses in a row after Luke O’Nien followed Wilson Isidor and Patrick Roberts in spurning a chance from the spot. Who will take the next is not clear but the Black Cats will surely be hoping to avoid a shoot-out in the play-offs.
Thankfully for Sunderland, O’Nien’s missed late spot-kick wasn’t costly, with Trai Hume’s excellent first half volley enough to secure all three points against their former boss Alex Neil.
O’Nien did have his centre-half partner Chris Mepham to thank, though, for the Wales international made a brave and brilliant diving block deep in stoppage time to protect the points and spare his fellow defender’s blushes.
Mepham and his teammates knew the display at Coventry was unacceptable and the players saw a different side to Le Bris. Usually so calm and measured, the head coach had repeatedly told of his “anger” at what he saw in the last game before the break.
And Mepham said: “No matter how angry someone was, you’re completely entitled to it in that moment.
“The fans are paying their money and travelling across the country. Everyone was well below our normal levels. It’s fine to have a game like that, every team has it, but it’s what follows and the important thing is how you respond. The reaction today shows how much we do care and how much pride we take in the way we play.
“There were a lot of aspects that were nowhere near us at Coventry. Today the energy and feeling you had in the game was totally different. Everyone was up for it – tackles, headers, set-pieces. When you create that feeling in a game it makes the game feel a lot easier.”
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Sunderland had won just two in six games before the stoppage and Mepham admitted belief in the camp had taken a hit. With two tricky away games at West Brom and Norwich to come, a failure to beat Millwall would have further knocked confidence in the dressing room as well as in the stands.
“These next seven games are going to be massive,” said the centre-half.
“When you’re in a team that’s playing well and getting good results, you feel like you can play anyone.
“On the flip side, when you’re in a team that isn’t getting results and lacking a bit of confidence, which we probably have done the last couple of weeks, it makes anywhere you go seem that bit harder.
“It was important we gave the fans a reaction. We were all well below our level last week and that was as far away from our normal selves as I’ve seen us. We want to carry the momentum into the play-offs.”
Sunderland started Saturday’s game looking like a team intent on getting back on track. They had three chances inside the first 60 seconds and Patrick Roberts – who enjoyed one of his best displays of the season on the right flank – went close soon after.
One of those early missed opportunities fell to Wilson Isidor, who has now failed to hit the net in his last six appearances and looks like he could do with a goal. He didn’t get the chance to make amends for his Burnley pain from the spot, nor did Romaine Mundle get the opportunity to score the penalty that he won. Mundle didn’t look best pleased when O’Nien grabbed the ball but the defender had been picked as the taker before the game, Le Bris said afterwards.
O’Nien could at least celebrate just a second clean sheet in 11 games. Alan Browne covered competently at right-back and Hume played through the pain on the left, lashing in what proved to be the winner on 20 minutes after a wonderfully worked set-piece routine from the right.
Only Dan Neil has played more minute than Hume this season and the full-back is one of the Sunderland players who looks like he’ll belong at the level the Black Cats are hoping to be playing at next season.
If this season does end in promotion, the Millwall game might well be reflected on as a crucial springboard.
“It was important because the games before the international break, especially Coventry, weren’t good enough,” said Le Bris.
“The team spirit wasn’t the one expected from Sunderland. We were angry but at the same time we knew with such a small group like ours, you need to accept it. But also react.
“We showed this mindset today and the reaction from the crowd was positive. Even if it wasn’t impressive on the pitch, the energy was really clear.
“Now we are opening a new chapter.
“We are in a really good place, compared to the season before for example, and with the gap on the play-offs to the other teams. But we can’t stand still and we have to build this momentum.”