Jobe Bellingham highlights 'massive' Sunderland boost for Leeds United clash
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Jobe Bellingham hopes his Sunderland side can utilise the ‘massive boost’ of a packed out Stadium of Light for Friday’s visit of Leeds United.
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Hide AdDaniel Farke’s side face arguably their toughest test of the season on Friday evening, with a third game in six days coming at the table-topping Black Cats. Tuesday’s hard-fought point at Norwich City offered little chance for an already injury-ravaged squad to ease off and another long night-time trip will test the legs.
Sunderland will also play their third game in six days but benefitted from being at home during Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Derby County and will do so again come Friday. That midweek victory was a fourth from four inside the Stadium of Light, with Regis Le Bris’ side yet to concede a goal at home and looking unstoppable at this early stage of the campaign.
“We wanted [the Stadium of Light] to become, like you say, a fortress and I think it's really shown,” Bellingham told The Sunderland Echo. “We've really applied ourselves in the games. We've been really organised and the fans have definitely helped. It's amazing and we've obviously kept four clean sheets at home, which is another big, big bonus.”
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Hide AdBut while Friday offers up Leeds’ biggest test so far, the same could be said for a Sunderland side who faced only two of the top-seven so far. The Whites are unbeaten on the road this season and conceded their first away-day goal at Norwich on Tuesday, having kept three straight clean sheets beforehand.
Injuries have hit Leeds hard and it remains to be seen whether Farke’s midweek substitutions will have the desired effect of keeping it fresh, but they can still go top with a victory by two or more goals. And Bellingham accepts that if his side want to remain in promotion contention, they must go toe-to-toe with the best.
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Hide Ad“It'll be another really tough test,” the 19-year-old added. “As we know, Leeds are a really, really good opposition, aren't they? We're going to have to face the challenge and see what we can do and try and get through it together as a team with the fans.
“It will be a massive boost against a really good team with really good players who were right up there last year and that's where we want to be. So we're going to have to compete against those kind of teams and at home it's a real advantage.”