STEPHANE Sessegnon insists Sunderland must take heart from securing their longest unbeaten Premier League run since September – rather than dwelling on a drab draw with Swansea.
The Benin forward admits the Black Cats were below par in Tuesday night’s Stadium of Light stalemate against the Capital One Cup finalists, with Seb Larsson’s free-kick providing the sole shot on target from the hosts.
But a point against the Swans took Sunderland’s tally to seven from the last three league games – their best run since a five-match unbeaten start to the season.
And with Martin O’Neill’s men heading to struggling Reading on Saturday, Sessegnon says Sunderland cannot let the manner of the Swansea draw distract from what is developing into a productive period for the Wearsiders.
Sessegnon said: “It was very good that we didn’t lose against Swansea, because you get matches where you don’t play that well and don’t manage to score.
“The important thing is not to lose them.
“It’s quite good that we’ve managed to take seven points out of a possible nine, and hopefully we can continue that.
“We’ve got to look to keep that going because it’s another match we should be looking to win on Saturday.
“There have been a lot of things we’ve done well over the last three games.
“We’ve been playing with more confidence and desire recently, and if we can produce more going forwards on Saturday, we can win.
“But it’s that consistency which has been a problem, and what we need to find.
“Perhaps it’s a mental thing, but we’ve got to be positive going into Saturday’s game.”
Sessegnon was one of the few Sunderland players who provided an attacking threat on Tuesday after attempting to inject some tempo into the Black Cats’ approach play at the start of the second half.
But a miserly Swansea defence, who have conceded the fewest away goals in the Premier League this season, comfortably thwarted the attacking efforts of O’Neill’s side.
“It was a difficult match at times,” admitted Sessegnon.
“There were very few chances for either side, so we have to be satisfied with a point.
“But at the same time, it was a game we were hoping to win.
“We didn’t honestly have many attacking opportunities.
“Swansea are very good at the back, and they are a team who are very good at keeping the ball.
“They’re a team who are playing well at the moment, so it was always going to be difficult to be able to break them down.
“We tried, but offensively we weren’t at our best and didn’t ask enough questions.
“But you can say, that they didn’t have many possibilities either.”
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