Phil Parkinson explains exactly why Charlie Wyke is leading the line for Sunderland and has this message for Will Grigg

The Black Cats boss recalled Wyke, who led the line for the majority of the second half of last season, after the recent international break.

The 27-year-old repaid that faith with a goal against Swindon Town, and was heavily involved in the own goal that secured another three points against Crewe Alexandra days later.

Most importantly, though, is improvement in his all-round play.

It gives him a good chance of retaining his place in the XI against Portsmouth, even though Parkinson has said he will rotate his strikers more often during this demanding schedule.

“Charlie has been good in the last two games,” Parkinson said.

“What people on the outside sometimes don't have the benefit of is seeing what we see in terms of the physical output.

“We want to be a team which can press from the front, and Charlie's physical output as a player has the potential to be outstanding.

“He's very, very fit as a player and he's very athletic.

What we need is for him to show that on a regular basis. In the last two games we've got him back to where we want him to be, where earlier in the season the ouput wasn't where it “needed to be.

“He's concentrating on the boxes he needs to tick to be successful and in the last two games he has got his rewards.

“The onus is on him to keep going if he's selected.”

Parkinson insists that there will be a key role for Will Grigg, whose gametime has been reduced as a result of Wyke’s return and Danny Graham’s arrival.

Both Swindon Town and MK Dons were interest in signing Grigg in the latter stages of the transfer window, but the Black Cats boss says there will be opportunities for the 29-year-old.

“In terms of Griggy, I stand by what I said,” he said.

“He's come back in terrific shape, he started the season OK and was a bit unlucky not to get a goal.

“There'll be a time when he's back in the team, I'm sure, and he's got a big part to play.”

Parkinson has tweaked his attacking set-up slightly in the early stages of this season, making room for another centre-forward.

Chris Maguire has occupied that role well of late, but the Black Cats boss says he is prepared to keep adapting as the season develops.

“When we set out to build a team around playing three at the back, obviously we knew we had to be prepared to adapt in terms of the shape in front of that,” he said.

“We looked at it in pre-season with the 3-4-3 we'd played with last season, and we just wanted to commit an extra man forward to make sure we've got bodies in and around the opposition penalty box.

“I just felt in that early period in pre-season, we played some decent football without being threatening enough.

“So we adjusted that and we're doing better, but there can be adaptions as we go along. Teams will watch us and if we have to change we will, because we've got the flexibility to do that.”

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