Michael Beale on Sunderland's win over Preston and Nazariy Rusyn

Head coach Michael Beale started a forward for the first time in his tenure and Ukrainian striker Rusyn repaid that faith with a first goal for the club and a first goal scored by a Sunderland striker in almost a year in the Championship.

And here is everything Beale had to say on a comfortable afternoon on Wearside:

It's a good start to the New Year, isn't it?

It’s a really good start. The schedule is ridiculous in the league, I think we saw that in the second half – it was two really tired teams, certainly our team. We had some tired players who were out on their feet. That’s why the aim was to start the game fast and take the game to Preston.

We had the best possible start with Pritch’s goal. We wanted to play him tucked in on the right and he got himself into a great area, but then he’s got to execute. It’s a fantastic strike. He’s obviously been frustrated since I came in because he’s been off sick and he’s not been available to us, but he came on at Rotherham and played a big part in our equaliser there and then the start of the game today.

But I suppose the story of the day is a No.9 scored for Sunderland and it was an excellent goal. Jack runs up the pitch but Naz deserves that. People don’t understand how difficult it is for a player to come in from somewhere like the Ukraine with everything that’s going on, his family are not here with him, but you can see he works his absolute socks off. I know Jack’s run will get highlighted, but the movement from Naz to get across was fantastic.

We were delighted at half-time at 2-0. If we couldn’t keep the same energy and go on and score a third it was important we kept a clean sheet and I’m delighted with that, a second clean sheet in three games

Why did you decide to start Nazariy Rusyn?

We’ve only had about four or five training sessions because of the schedule and Christmas and the recovery from the games. I’ve been in the job two weeks and it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. I’ve been trying to get around the group and speak to the players and understand them a little bit more. It was clear in the game away at Rotherham that we were not going to score unless we had a centre-forward on the pitch. We gave Mason a go there and young Eli [Mayenda] had a go against Coventry, he came on a little bit today but he’s so young. Then Naz has had his opportunity.

I just really like Naz’ work ethic. So if anything, if the goals aren’t going in, is he contributing to the greater game for the team? I think he did today.

You were able to welcome back Aji Alese, that must be a big positive?

It’s a huge positive. Not having him and Dennis [Cirkin], especially since we lost Niall [Huggins] has been tough. Trai [Hume] has had to play out of position. It was nice to get him back into his position today. He allowed Pritch to go inside and play close to Jobe. So that’s a sign of things to come hopefully. 

He came off with a little bit of cramp, but now we go into a schedule where we’ve got two games in 14 days. That will really help people like Aji because he’s a really big player for us. He’s a calming influence on the back four as well because he makes good decisions and I thought, for the first appearance of the season, he was excellent today.

Is there an update on Patrick Roberts' injury?

We’ll have to see. Obviously with the festive period we have to try and get the scan and the results back so we’re a bit unaware of that and if he’ll be available [to face Newcastle].

Did your side struggle with fatigue in the second half?

With it being the festive period, as well as people have other things in their life that they do – they are human beings as well. It’s not ideal. We travel away to Hull and we’re in a hotel then we travel again away to Rotherham. It’s the same for Preston as well, I get it, that’s why we’re delighted that we won the game.

We put a lot of energy into the first half. But the majority of my team have had to knock out the four games and you could see it in the second half as we got tired. Some of our possession was a little bit more lazy and in our defending some of our shape wasn’t as good as I’d like it to be, but we don’t have that problem moving forward so our cohesion will certainly improve and our pressing as a team. You’ll see a greater energy from us in the coming games, hopefully.

Has the schedule been good or bad for you over the Christmas and New Year period?

Now we’ve come out of it, I’m content with the points that we’ve got - certainly after the first game which I was sat thinking ‘oh wow.’ To go and get our first away win at Hull who are an excellent team, then there was a little bit of frustration at Rotherham but to win again today I’m delighted with that.

We’ve had about five training sessions, four games and the festive period in between. So it’s been a whirlwind and I’m really glad we’re going to have time on the training pitch now. It’s been more coaching via powerpoint or in a meeting room, which is not ideal. You want to put some of your ideas across to the players on the grass and they want to get a feeling for you as a coach as well, but I want to say thank you to all of the backroom staff. I’ve come in on my own and they’ve made me feel really settled in the club. It’s clear there’s a lot of very, very good work going on, prior to me coming in, and what I would say to the players is they’ve taken on board every bit of information they’ve been given by the staff.

We’ve got some really honest, good, young players who have a high potential and I’m excited to work with them. I feel privileged to have that opportunity to work with them.

Do you have a chance to enjoy it with such a big game against Newcastle on the horizon?

I’m going to spend the day with the family because I feel like I need to reintroduce myself to them because they’ve not seen me since I’ve taken the job.

Look, it’s a really, really good week for everybody in this part of the world. It’s really good for the FA Cup, I think it’s going to captivate the eye and the ear and the imagination of everyone. We’re two different clubs. We’re a really young team, they’ve had a big investment so the rivalry is there. We’re going in two different ways. But for us, what a game to have. For my team, what a challenge to have. I’m sure Eddie and his staff are feeling the same as well.

It’s here at home which is where we want it to be and it’ll be a sell-out, so you’ve got to look forward to games like that. Surely that’s why you coach and why you play the game and why you follow your team and it’s important we do well in the game.

Have you been impressed by your players having had so little time to adapt with so few training sessions?

If I go with the three midfielders who have played nearly every minute in the four games and they’re young – is it 22, 21 and 18? There’s loads of potential from those guys.

The biggest thing for me is; is there any grit to go with your talent? It’s interesting how we define talent. There’s lots of ways to define talent and if we take our eyes off the technical aspect, has someone got the ability to take on information? Will they grind for the team? Will they press and work their socks off? Those three this week have had a really good week and their potential and their ceiling is quite high. Next week they should relish that challenge to see where they’re at.

Were you inviting pressure a little in the second half or was it the festive period catching up?

We weren’t great in the second half, I think that’s fair to say. First half we had some passages of play that were excellent and second half I can see in their faces that they’re really tired, so we’ll give them that one. We didn’t start the half well. We struggled to get momentum and rhythm into some of our play and naturally the fans go a little bit flat off the back of what they’re seeing on the pitch. But the most important thing today was to get a home win and it’s a good home win against a Preston team that are fighting against us in and around the same positions.

It was really important today and I don’t think we should look away from the effort we put into the first half to get 2-0 up. It wasn’t a game where we’ve dominated possession and missed chances, it was a game which was much more even and we took the chances that we got, so that’s a step in the right direction in terms of being more clinical and with four games in 10 days, with two travels, it’s not ideal.

I’m not going to be somebody who moans because I know footballers like to play more than they train but we’re now playing two games in the next 14 days so I don’t understand why one of these games couldn’t have been moved out because I don’t think the second half was great viewing for anybody in the stadium or watching on tv. We’ve lost Bradley Dack this week and Patrick Roberts. Okay we’re happy with the result, but I’m not sure why we had to have the four games in 10 days.