How Dennis Cirkin contributed to Sunderland's win over MK Dons following arrival from Tottenham Hotspur

In the end, the decision was pretty much made for the Black Cats boss, as Luke O’Nien’s absence through illness meant Dan Neil was moved into midfield and Cirkin took his natural place on the left of a back four in a 2-1 win.

On the face of it, it appeared the obvious call, yet the defender, 19, has recently recovered after testing positive for Covid-19 and is still building up his match fitness.

Cirkin’s lack of game time wasn’t initially apparent as the game kicked off at Stadium MK, though, especially when the teenager made an overlapping run beyond Aiden McGeady in the second minute and won Sunderland a corner.

While Cirkin did make a few forays forward and looked comfortable dribbling with the ball, his passes and ball retention was often kept simple, which proved valuable against an MK Dons side which prides itself on keeping possession.

Against Wigan last weekend, Sunderland’s opponents often attacked down the Black Cats’ left flank, where Neil was at times left exposed against Latics duo Callum Lang and full-back Tendayi Darikwa.

Yet at Stadium MK, most of the hosts’ attacks in the first 45 minutes came down Sunderland’s right, with Dons wing-back Daniel Harvie pinning back Carl Winchester and giving the hosts an outlet.

Playing against wing-backs can be challenging for a full-back in a four-man defence, as it’s not always obvious which player they are supposed to be marking.

Yet, aside from a first-half shot when the ball rebounded to him, MK Dons’ right wing-back Tennai Watson didn’t have much of an attacking influence in the first half.

Even when the hosts piled on some late pressure and Watson found himself one on one with Cirkin on the flank, the Sunderland man regularly forced his opponent to cut inside rather than allowing him to deliver a cross from the byline.

Understandably, Cirkin’s lack of game time began to show as Johnson withdrew the debutant and switched to a back three with 18 minutes remaining.

Still, this was an encouraging first impression from the teenager.

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