Vito Mannone talks up League Cup importance

Sunderland goalkeeper Vito Mannone has talked up the importance of his side embarking on a good League Cup run this season.

The 28-year-old was part of the Black Cats squad that reached the final of the competition in 2013-14, eventually losing to Manchester City in the final having beaten Manchester United in the last four.

Sunderland have failed to pick up a point in their opening two games of the Premier League season, but Mannone is hopeful that victory over Shrewsbury Town on Wednesday could help to kickstart their campaign.

"I was very, very happy with what we did in that cup run. I think it has stuck with the fans and with me, that Old Trafford night and making the final," he told reporters.

"It's an important competition where, from my experience, we started to play well. It was like a kind of training for the league, so it builds your confidence, it gives games to most of the boys in the team and if you do well, you do well in the league.

"We need to treat it like this, as a competitive game, as a league game again because we need to win on Wednesday if we want to win on Saturday. You can't do badly on Wednesday and do perfectly on Saturday."

Sunderland were beaten 2-1 by newly-promoted Middlesbrough on Sunday.