The Frenchman was left frustrated as his side went down 2-1 to an older, more experienced Chelsea side at Aldershot in their opening game ten days ago but there were plenty of positives to take from the meeting with last season’s champions.
Vieira was especially proud of the way his side reacted to that defeat in their midweek friendly win over Schalke at Hyde last Tuesday.
“Against Chelsea, we controlled the game for the first 75 minutes and made a lot of chances to score but after we conceded the equaliser, we collapsed,” the EDS boss declared.
“We didn’t have the mental strength to return to the game after the equaliser.
“After the sending off for Shay Facey, with the experience and quality they have in their team they managed to score the second goal and I was really disappointed as I thought we at least deserved a draw.
“I think the win against Schalke was really important – to defend a result. The last four, five matches we’ve played, we’ve been in the lead and we’ve ended up losing the games.
“We went through a really difficult period in the game after we’d scored but we dug in, defended well and kept the clean sheet, which was really important ahead of Sunderland.”
City EDS v Schalke highlights
Facey is available to play after his red card last time out as his one-match suspension falls on the newly rearranged clash with West Ham on Sunday at the AJ Bell Stadium.
Jose Angel Pozo may be in line for a first league start of the season after his star turn in the win over Schalke and Devante Cole’s loan to Barnsley, while Jordy Hiwula and Thierry Ambrose are likely to be in contention for the no.9 shirt.
Angelino and Olivier Ntcham were rested for the exhibition match on Tuesday, so will be hoping to return to the fold.
Sunderland lost their opening Barclays u21 Premier League encounter at home to Liverpool on Tuesday.
They finished in eighth place last season and were beaten 6-2 by City at the Etihad Stadium in March.
We’ll have live Twitter updates on the game over at @MCFC, as well as a match report and highlights here on mcfc.co.uk.
Kick-off is at 7pm at Hyde’s Ewen Fields (SK14 5PL), entry is free for Seasoncard holders and £3 adults, £1 concessions.
