Phil Smith's Sunderland Q&A: Contract latest, injury updates and what the future holds for star loanees discussed

Phil Smith took questions from readers on all matters on and off the pitch, and you can read his responses below….

Aiden O’Brien or Ross Stewart to assist Charlie Wyke?

Well the first thing I’d say is that given the demands of the fixture schedule, both are going to have to play a major part.

Don’t be surprised to see Lynden Gooch occasionally dropped in behind Wyke, either.

Gooch will always tell you he enjoys his football most when playing through the middle (though his excellent cameo on Monday shows he has much to offer from wide in the current shape), and there are times where Johnson wants that extra mobility in there. We saw it against Oxford, when Johnson felt he could cause problems for an Oxford midfield with lots of technical ability but perhaps not the most mobility.

Gooch took a while to get into it but a goal and an assist was clearly a very good return (and again, he excelled when running at tired legs out wide late on).

I thought Ross Stewart did OK on Monday. There was some good link-up play and some moments where his pressure forced a Peterborough mistake when initially it didn’t seem like there was much of a threat.

What O’Brien clearly brings is a chemistry with Wyke that just comes from being able to have more time both on the training ground and in games.

He’s obviously been working his way back from a hamstring problem and I think that as much as anything his limited gametime over the weekend was down to that.

Sunderland (and perhaps most importantly Wyke) look more threatening with him in the side and so I expect him to get a lot of minutes between now and the end of the season.

Stewart will have a big part to play, though.

Would you rather have points in the bag like Hull have or Sunderland’s games in hand? I’m worried about the run-in!

Personally I would always rather have the points on the board as the season comes to a close and the pressure rises, though I’m maybe just still wearing a few scars from the 2018/19 season!

I do think Sunderland are in a really good position, though.

Yes, their run-in is tough but their fixtures over the last couple of weeks have been challenging and the points return has been strong.

Hull also have a difficult run-in, and if you compare the average points-per-game of the teams both have left to play (weighted to take into account home and away results), there’s very little in it. It’s 1.46 for Hull, and 1.47 for Sunderland.

Still having Grant McCann’s side to play also gives the Black Cats a big chance to make a dent in the current gap. Under both managers this season, this is a team that has broadly done very, very well against teams near the top.

It would be a fine achievement to reach the top two from here but I really do think right now, Sunderland are well placed.

Has there been any progress with regards to those coming to the end of their contract?

It’s an ongoing progress but the new deal for Jack Diamond confirmed last week is an encouraging sign that Kristjaan Speakman is working on the issue.

Broadly speaking I think there are a couple of very different categories within those who are coming to the end of their contract.

There is one group where Sunderland are likely to want to know which division they will be playing in before they make a decision.

Once they have that clarity, they will have a better sense of both their budget and what they need to do to get a squad ready for whatever division that is.

Lee Johnson has also himself pointed out that some players may be thinking similarly. Every player wants to play at the highest level for the longest time, is how he puts it.

The other category is players who Sunderland will see a future for in both divisions, and who come into a financial range that means promotion or otherwise this season is not a defining factor.

DIamond is a great example of that and I think there are probably a couple of others who Sunderland will view similarly.

There’s clearly a desire to protect the club’s assets with younger players (take for example the way they took an option to extend Elliot Embleton’s deal before he left on loan) that is welcome and overdue.

Speakman has also started work on preparing for all the key contract decisions that will be made in the academy age groups, too.

Johnson has already warned that because clubs and players are still making sense of what impact the pandemic will have on the market, the process is likely to take a bit longer for all clubs this year.

So I don’t think we will see widespread renewals before the end of the current season, but there might well be one or two following in Diamond’s footsteps.

Do you think Aiden McGeady is likely to be one of the players who does stay beyond the end of this season?

As it stands I’d be surprised if he didn’t stay.

The first aspect of it is obviously what McGeady himself wants to do. He’s already said that he wants to extend his stay at the club and it’s widely known that he took a cut on his pay to extend his current deal back in 2019.

He likes the area and is settled here, and stayed last summer even when it might have made more sense to look elsewhere as his exile continued.

There is definitely a sense of unfinished business on his behalf so I think he’d make it work.

The second aspect is obviously Sunderland’s view.

On that front, Johnson seems to enjoy working with him and has said on a couple of occasions that he thinks he has at the very least another year in him at a high level, even if that is in the Championship.

So all the indications are at the moment that both player and club see a future beyond this summer, regardless of what happens between now and the end of the season.

We’ll have to wait and see whether that proves to be the case.

Any indication that talks have begun with regards to keeping Dion Sanderson and Jordan Jones next season should we gain promotion?

Johnson has been pretty coy on this but if Dion Sanderson is available, there is no doubt that they would want to be in the conversation.

He’s made as big an impression behind the scenes as he has on the fanbase, and as a young player on the up he perfectly fits what the new regime wants to do moving forward.

Sunderland have a good relationship with Wolves and very regular dialogue, which was reflected in the fact he didn;t go elsewhere in January even though his playing time was limited at that stage.

The reason Johnson is so coy is probably three-fold.

For one, he wants to keep Sanderson focused on the task at hand and doesn’t think talking about his future in detail is going to help (if Sunderland don’t get promoted, the whole conversation is going to be moot anyway).

Two, he’s eager to maintain that relationship with Wolves and so wants to be respectful.

Three, there still has to be some doubt as to why Wolves would want to sell at this stage. The situation is complicated by the fact that he only has a year left on his deal, but Sanderson understandably wants to give himself the best chance of making it as his hometown club. Right now there’s no reason to think he can’t do that.

Even if he doesn’t, another year in the Championship would surely see his value to Wolves grow.

So there are loads of factors outside Sunderland’s control with that one at the moment, but they will definitely be in the mix if possible.

With Jones, I think it’s similar really.

There was Championship interest in January and there would be again if Rangers did decide to sell.

The positive for Sunderland is that he opted to move to Wearside then, eager to be part of Johnson’s project. The two have a good rapport and the style clearly suits the player (even if you sense playing him and McGeady together gives their head coach the odd sleepless night).

Johnson has spoken of improving the dynamism in the squad and it’s arguably his biggest achievement so far (though restoring McGeady, promoting Diamond and signing Jones).Like Sanderson, get promoted and you can have the conversation.

Then it becomes about what their parent clubs decide, and whether the club then feels there is fair value to be had.

I don’t think there’s any real doubt that Sunderland would be interested in both.

What is your understanding of how many season cards we are allowed to sell?

There is no cap as it stands.

Sunderland are still waiting for the full details on what fans returning to stadiums will look like.

The government roadmap currently of course raises hopes for a full return in time for the new season, but what that will entail and what clubs might have to do to facilitate that is still being discussed and debated behind the scenes.

How people will return to stadiums and big sporting events is one of the key talking points as we move through the next stages of coming out of lockdown.

So the club are essentially planning for a number of different scenarios as they wait for a definitive answer, which includes various different models in terms of what capacity they’ll be allowed.

That’s why there’s a guarantee with every season card this year, meaning a full refund for any games missed in the event that Government or EFL regulations lead to any fixtures being played behind closed doors or in front of a reduced capacity.

These will be processed on a monthly basis, which is a big step forward.

Fingers crossed it doesn’t come to that.A packed Stadium of Light is what everyone is desperate to see as Sunderland look to take the next steps in their rebuild.

Do you think as I do that Denver Hume must be first choice for left back?

From what I’ve seen over the last eighteen months, Denver is as good as it gets in that position at this level, certainly from an attacking sense.

He beats players, wins fouls in dangerous areas and his delivery is improving.

There’s no doubt he has a massive part to play, it’s just a case of ensuring they don’t rush him and that they protect his hamstring.

How long before Bailey Wright is back so Luke O’Nien can play in his natural position?

Sunderland’s hope was that Bailey Wright would return to training in the latter stages of this week.

Given how long he has been absent, it would be a major surprise if he was in contention for this weekend and you’d wonder whether the midweek game might also come a bit too soon.

All being well, though, he should be back in contention over the next week.

It’s a fascinating debate around Luke O’Nien, though.

He was Sunderland’s best defensive performer at Peterborough and by and large he has been excellent in the role. He defends well and his poise in possession has added another dimension to Sunderland’s game.

I agree that he has a lot to offer further up the pitch but to be honest, he’s looked like a top League One centre-half for a while now.

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