Sunderland winger outlines aims amid contract talks as manager candidate spotted at Premier League club

Sunderland built on two solid draws with an impressive 1-0 win at play-off chasing West Brom on Saturday. Pierre Ekwah scored the decisive goal for the Black Cats, who took advantage of seeing Baggies top-scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante sent off shortly before.

Mike Dodds’ side might have little to play for in terms of league position but there is a clear desire among the squad to finish the season on a high. There are just three games left of the campaign and ahead of Saturday’s visit of Millwall to the Stadium of Light, The Sunderland Echo has rounded up some of the latest headlines:

Taylor contract talks

Ellis Taylor hopes to get 90 minutes under his belt for Sunderland’s under-21s side before the end of the season after returning from an injury setback.

The 21-year-old, whose contract is set to expire this summer, made his first appearance since January when he came off the bench against Middlesbrough during a Premier League 2 match at the Stadium of Light.

“It’s always nice to play and especially at the stadium,” Taylor told the club’s website after the 2-1 defeat against Boro. “Hopefully I can get more and more minutes coming to the end of the season, build up that momentum again and hopefully finish the season strong.”

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Still at Stamford Bridge

Reims boss Will Still, who has continuously been linked with the Sunderland job, was spotted at Stamford Bridge recently.

Still caught the eye of football circles and fans on social media after becoming relatively successful at a young age and admitting to honing some of his skills on the popular video game Football Manager. His club Reims are reportedly eyeing up replacements for coach should he depart this summer.

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Rivals sack manager

Championship club Rotherham have parted company with head coach Leam Richardson after just four months in charge. Richardson took charge of the Millers in December last year, replacing Matt Taylor when the club were eight points adrift of safety, but was unable to keep the club up. Rotherham’s relegation was confirmed following a 1-0 defeat against Plymouth earlier this month, with three league games remaining this season against Birmingham, Bristol City and Cardiff.

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