'They're not excuses, they're facts' - Michael Beale explains Sunderland struggles

Sunderland look a pale shadow of what they were before Michael Beale, and it wasn't without its problems then. He has explained why.

Michael Beale says injuries have played a huge role in the nosedive in performance levels since he arrived at the club, saying that is a ‘fact, not an excuse.’

Sunderland have struggled under Beale for both goals and fluency, and it all came to a head in a dismal home defeat to Hull City last week.

The Tigers’ head coach Liam Rosenior branded his side’s performance as the ‘worst’ under his tenure, although it was still enough to beat Sunderland and prevent the Black Cats from so much as laying a glove on them.

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Goals have been hard to come by for Beale’s Sunderland side, with just five scored in seven matches and three of them coming from outside the box.

He, though, has been in defiant mood this week after fans chanted for him to be sacked during the Hull defeat, and he says injuries have left him short on options.

“I think we were coming in and the team was a team that had free running full backs behind wide players,” he said.

“We've had an issue in the left back position with obviously losing Niall [Huggins] and then Dennis [Cirkin] had a reoccurrence. We put Aji [Alese] in and he started doing well and got injured and Paddy's [Patrick Roberts] been out as well. So then things are not been ideal.

“They're not excuses, they're actually facts. I still think the last two games we were unfortunate not to get results.

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“In terms of the striker situation, well the club did invest heavily in the summer in four number nines. The reality is no one had scored a goal before me coming in.

“Since I've come in, Rusyn played more and scored. [Alex] Pritchard scored his first goal of the season. Paddy Roberts has yet to score.

“It was a problem for Tony [Mowbray] and it's now a slight issue for myself that I'm working with. But I came here to work with the players that were here. So my focus is on that.

“I think it's clear for everyone inside and outside where the team needs to improve.”

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