Sunderland play Wolves in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.
Wolves boss Vitor Pereira has insisted that his side need to be “prepared” for a tough challenge when they face Sunderland at the Stadium of Light on Saturday afternoon.
Wanderers travel to the North East having taken just two points from their opening seven matches of the season, while their hosts have amassed 11 points over the course of the same run.
As such, a win for the Black Cats would open up a 12-point gap between the two clubs, and Pereira has suggested that his men will have to be at their best to prevent that from happening.
What has Vitor Pereira said about Sunderland ahead of Wolves clash?
Speaking in a press conference on Friday morning, when asked about Sunderland’s recent form, Pereira said: “Of course we need to be prepared, because they are strong, they are strong. Especially playing at home, they are in a good moment, and we need to be in our best level.
“But every time I say, if we play against Sunderland, against Tottenham or Brighton [Wolves’ two most recent opponents], we need to go there to face these teams with our tools, with our work, with our idea, with our identity, playing football and competing with them. In a good atmosphere, I believe, we need to go there and prove that we are ready.”
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Pereira also started his press conference with an assessment of how his struggling side have performed in recent weeks - during which they have gone three matches unbeaten despite their lowly league position.
He said: “Last three games, we can look at these last three games from the perspective that we didn't lose the last three games. We won in the cup and we went to Tottenham and we draw. This is a result that before the game, if you’d asked me, ‘Okay, if we go there and we get one point?’, it's okay.
“But in the end, you know, the way that happens in the details - a small detail, but a big detail that decides two points in the last minute. We lost two points and this is the frustration about the game again. But we play, we face, a strong team. And against Brighton, we face again a strong team. Because I remember the game, last season, they were better than us and I remember the game, we lost 2-0. But, you know, after the game, another detail at the end of the game and we lost two points. If I look at the progress of the team, I'm realising that we are more competitive now. We are more competitive now because we are very close to winning and we didn't lose.”
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