Lynden Gooch's emotional message to Sunderland fans after Stoke City away end moment

Lynden Gooch has written a social media message to Sunderland and Stoke City fans after Saturday's game.

The two clubs squared off in the Championship at the Bet365 Stadium on Saturday with The Potters running out 2-1 winners.

The Black Cats fell a goal down in the seventh minute when Ryan Mmaee opened the scoring, but reacted well when Jack Clarke equalised three minutes later.

Stoke retook the lead shortly after half-time, though, when Luke McNally headed home Daniel Johnson’s corner.

After leaving Sunderland for Stoke City during the summer window. Gooch returned to the bench for Alex Niel's side after two games out with a hamstring injury.

The 27-year-old, who spent over a decade on Wearside before joining Stoke on transfer deadline day, was applauded off by the away fans following the pre-match warm-up.

Gooch was applauded again by both sets of supporters when he replaced Andre Vidigal in the 80th minute, while chants of ‘Gooooooooch’ could be heard from the away end.

After the game, Gooch wrote on social media: "Great battle and an important 3 points against a top team yesterday! "A strange feeling personally playing against my boyhood club for the first time. Thank you to all the Sunderland fans for the love you showed me before, during, and after the game it meant a lot to me."

Sunderland are next in action against league leaders Leicester City in the Championship on Tuesday with Tony Mowbary's men looking to return to winning ways against the former Premier League winners.