Sunderland players must stop hiding, says Danny Higginbotham
Thursday 14 September 2017 21:08, UK
Sunderland's players need to stop hiding if they are to arrest their slide, says Danny Higginbotham.
Speaking on EFL Matters on Thursday night, the former Black Cats defender said it's up to Simon Grayson to turn the slump around and get the side going forward again.
"I think the expectation levels are huge," said Higginbotham. "The supporters have been down for so long fighting at the bottom of the Premier League, and home form is a big issue as well.
"We know Grayson has gone in there and he'll want to look forward not back, but it's not as simple as that. You need to start getting wins, but it's very difficult when you've been in a slump. They've got to handle the pressure.
"The supporters just want to see a team that will battle against the opposition. We've all been in a dressing room where the team is struggling, but when you get out on the pitch you can't have three, four or five players hiding in situations. You need everyone pulling in the same direction."
Higginbotham and presenter David Prutton were joined by Wycombe striker Adebayo Akinfenwa, who said that Sunderland's squad need to work harder to pull together.
"Winning is a habit and Sunderland are used to losing," he said. "It's hard but there's no quick fix, it's about training right and all trying to pull in the same direction.
"You can't look back but then you keep getting reminded about things like not winning at home since 2016. But that's when the resilience has to come in as a collective unit."
Higginbotham believes that the rewards will be huge if Grayson can get it right at Sunderland. But if things go wrong, the fans will start to get on his back.
"I'm sure he'd tell you himself that it's a job he couldn't turn down," he said. "It's such a huge club with big expectations, but when I was there in the Premier League it was sold out every week.
"They're such passionate fans, but with passion there are fans that will question things, and rightly so."
