Nordi Mukiele's strong claim about Leeds United visit with honest Sunderland admission and "not dead" take

Defender Nordi Mukiele has made a very frank Sunderland admission with a strong claim and prediction for Sunday’s Premier League visit of Leeds United to the Stadium of Light.

A brilliant first year back in the Premier League last season saw Sunderland qualify for the Europa League as they sealed a seventh-placed finish but the Black Cats now sit bottom of the table after seven games of the new campaign.

The Wearsiders suffered a fifth league defeat of the season last weekend as Saturday’s clash at Bournemouth ended in a 2-0 defeat and Mukiele has admitted his team are “not good enough” at present ahead of a busy end to the week.

Sunderland are in Europa League action on Thursday evening in Poland with a league stage game against Lech Poznan, just three days before the Premier League visit of Leeds to the Stadium of Light.

Mukiele, though, claims Sunday’s game against Leeds will be the right moment to produce a reaction or as he put it “show everyone we are not dead”.

“If I have to be honest, we are not good enough right now,” said Mukiele, as per Sunderland’s official website.

“It’s just the beginning, and football can be like this.

“At the moment, it doesn’t look like we want something, and we have to work hard to get back to how we were last season. Right now, it’s not us and we are not Sunderland. We all need to look at ourselves in the mirror.

“It’s all of us. We have to get back to basics and be better, because if you are not at the level in this league, we will stay where we are.

“Show everyone we are not dead”

“I believe that if you work hard in training, you will get the rewards in the game. To talk is not the solution. We have to work, get back to our level and show what we are.

“I hate being in this position and I don’t like to lose. All of us have to fight to find the solution. We will fight to be better for the next game.”

Mukiele added: “Do I believe we will go back to the top? Yes, and this starts in training. I believe in this team and I believe in the staff. We have the quality, and I know that we will be out of this position.

“We have the chance this week to move on quickly. We have an important game in the Europa League and, after that, we are back in the Premier League.

“Leeds at home will be the right moment to show everyone we are not dead.”