Sunderland boss Reay praises players after victory over Southampton | OneFootball

Sunderland manager Melanie Reay praised her players for their effort and application following the club’s 1-0 victory over Southampton this afternoon.

Mary McAteer’s second half goal at The Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground was enough to send The Lady Black Cats four points clear at the top of the Barclays Women’s Championship table.

When speaking to WSL Full-Time after the match, Sunderland boss Reay said that she was pleased with how her side applied themselves in what was a difficult contest.

“I’m really pleased and proud of the performance,” Reay said. “It’s always difficult going into a Championship game when you haven’t played the week before. I know that’s the same for both teams but you carry momentum.

“We had two weeks to prepare for the game but credit to the players, they carried out the game plan superbly.

“There were moments where we controlled the game really nicely and there were transition moments where we gave it away really cheaply. Those are the moments that can really hurt you.

“I was pleased with all of the players today, I thought that their effort and application was top notch.”

Despite Sunderland holding that four-point cushion in the promotion race, Reay believes that the players will have no problem staying grounded.

She said “It’s quite easy to keep the players’ feet on the ground because these games are really hard. The players that played today found it really difficult and they’ve left everything out there.

“There are no easy games, it’s not like we are winning 7-0 every week and we are cruising. We’ve got to stay focused, we’ve got to keep doing the work on the training ground and make sure the players are prepared when they step onto the pitch.”

Sunderland are back in action on Sunday 17 March when they travel to Princes Park to face London City Lionesses.