Black Cats cannot afford to let standards slip – Xhaka

Granit Xhaka believes Sunderland did enough to warrant their point against Everton, but has told his teammates that they cannot afford to let their standards slip on the training ground.

- by Phil Smith

Xhaka said that he believes the roots of a poor first half hour from Sunderland, in which the visitors took the lead through Iliman Ndiaye, were laid in what he felt was a subpar final training session before the game.

Xhaka's first goal for the club helped to rescue a point in a much improved display from the hosts after the half-hour mark. "To be honest, we lost the three points in the first 25 minutes," Xhaka admitted after the draw.

"Sloppy with the ball, too many easy mistakes and at this level you get punished.

"The second half was very good, we create many chances and with a little bit more luck we can win this game, but in the end we take the one point. Training was not our best, and we started like we finished training.