Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris insisted there would be no slackening off after his side guaranteed a place in the Championship play-offs with a goalless draw at Norwich.
The Black Cats look almost certain to finish fourth in the table, meaning nothing hinges on their final five fixtures, but Le Bris wants his side to go into the end-of-season showdown on a high.
“Momentum is important in football,” he said. “It was something I stressed to the players after the international break and it’s good we now have our place in the play-offs.
“It’s a great achievement after a long journey – and now we need to keep it going.
“The good thing about our position is it gives us a chance to manage the squad, give different players a chance to show what they can do.
“At this stage of the season freshness is very important so that will be on my mind in the final games. But whatever the team our aim is to finish strongly.”
As for the game, he added: “We were not at our best early on, didn’t use the ball well, and they put us under pressure.
“But I was pleased with the character of the players and the way we defended – and in the second half we were much better.”
Norwich had the better of a low-key encounter and would have won it had they taken one of their numerous clear chances in the first half.
The best opportunity fell to top scorer Borja Sainz after just 10 minutes when he was played through by Marcelino Nunez but goalkeeper Anthony Patterson – who had created the trouble in the first place with some poor distribution – redeemed himself with a good save.
Anis Ben Slimane had earlier shaved the upright with a close-range header while Josh Sargent and Jacob Wright were denied by further good work from the keeper.
It was a closer game in the second period, with Eliezer Mayenda missing one good chance for the Black Cats, as the game fizzled out into a draw.
Norwich head coach Johannes Hoff Thorup was pleased with his side’s efforts.
“We did more than enough to score early in the match and I was disappointed we didn’t take one of our chances,” he said.
“We took control early on and I was pleased with some of our play but there were times when we didn’t take advantage of good positions and when the crosses could have been better.
“In the second half we dropped off a bit and they caused us a few problems but we defended well and it’s another clean sheet at home, which is good.”
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