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‘Clear pathway’ – Leo Hjelde assesses Sunderland promotion hopes after FA Cup defeat vs Stoke City
Sunderland were knocked out of the FA Cup by Stoke City after extra time on Saturday, but defender Leo Hjelde remains optimistic about the team’s promotion prospects.
Sunderland fell behind early to a penalty at the Stadium of Light, but fought back to equalize through Milan Aleksic’s first goal for the club. The match then went to extra time, where Niall Ennis scored a last-minute winner for the visitors.
Reflecting on the match, Hjelde said, “We started a bit slowly in the first 15 minutes and conceded a sloppy penalty. That’s something that can happen in a cup game, and we should’ve cleared it earlier. But after that, I thought we grew into the game, and for the next 85 minutes, we played really well.”
On his own performance at centre-back, the 21-year-old said, “It felt more comfortable playing inside. The first few minutes were a bit slow, but like the team, I grew into the game and thought I played quite well.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Hjelde is confident about Sunderland’s promotion chances. The Black Cats are set to face Burnley, another promotion contender, on Friday in the Championship.
Hjelde added, “The manager has made it clear that we want to go up this season, and with the signings we’ve made, there’s a clear path ahead. We’ve got a great chance this year with just four months left of proper football. We had a good FA Cup run, but now we’re fully focused on Friday and we can’t wait for that game.”
