'Showed me everything': Sunderland boss delivers verdict on Dan Neil's superb cameo

Neil's first-time finish in the 84th minute broke open a challenging game for the hosts, with Patrick Roberts adding a second four minutes later.

The 20-year-old has seen his game time drop considerably since the change in head coach, starting the first two games of his Neil's tenure before dropping to the bench.

Neil assessed the midfielder's performances and felt he was showing clear signs of mental fatigue and burnout, but his late cameo on Saturday showcased the best of his abilities.

"Dan showed me everything about why people have spoken so highly about him today," Neil said.

"If I'm being honest, I hadn't seen that so much up until this point. He's naturally a really good player but he was excellent when he came on, the intent he showed with his passing, always looking forward, and the finish was great.

"I'm really, really pleased with how he did."

Neil said that the youngster's performance, as well as that of Roberts, showed that he is making progress on Wearside.

The head coach identified having too many youngsters showing fatigue, and having too many senior players short of match sharpness, as a key problem when he first took charge.

He said the impact of his bench in the last two games was an indication that he is making inroads into that particular problem.

“What we need to bear in mind with Dan is when I walked in the building, Dan played the first two games that I managed and then after that we all looked at him and thought ‘this kid needs a rest and taking out of the firing line’," Neil said.

“What then happens is four or five games down the line, we haven’t lost a game since he came out of the team but then people will say ‘why is Dan Neil not playing?’

“The simple fact is you’ve got to earn the right to be in the team first and foremost but equally we need to make sure we used him sparingly to protect him as much as anything else, same as we’ve done with Callum Doyle. They were in that situation.

“The situation hasn’t changed overnight. What’s happened now is Dan looks refreshed. I thought he came on and had a really good impact in the game so that’s the situation we wanted to get ourselves in four games ago. Now we seem to find ourselves there and that’s not by mistake.

“We need to make sure we’ve got perspective in terms of where it was because people forget things in football. So a game down the line, why’s Dan not playing? He’s not playing because four games ago, the kid was knackered.

“If you look at Patrick as well, he’s getting sharper and fitter every game and I thought he had a great impact when he came on."

Both have staked their claim for a start when Sunderland face Lincoln City next Saturday.

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