Stephen Elliott: The big Charlie Wyke question as Sunderland spark life into promotion push

After an impressive performance in the cup midweek, it was important that Sunderland followed it up with three points in the league.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Well, Lee Johnson’s men duly obliged and with three goals to boot.

Traveling to London for a game is never easy and Saturday was no different.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

It was made slightly easier though when Charlie Wyke (more on him later) squeezed Aiden O’Brien’s cross home after a couple of minutes to give Sunderland the perfect start.

Sunderland striker Charlie Wyke scores against AFC Wimbledon.Sunderland striker Charlie Wyke scores against AFC Wimbledon.
Sunderland striker Charlie Wyke scores against AFC Wimbledon.

I was hoping the strike partnership would flourish after their bright start but in truth the team failed to get any supply to them after the goal.

In fact, Sunderland actually struggled to get a foothold in the game in attacking areas, until Wyke’s masterclass in the last few minutes.

A big positive from the game was having Jordan Willis back fit and his presence alongside the consistently solid Bailey Wright was something that Johnson would have been delighted with.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Wimbledon had a lot of the ball in the Sunderland half but I never felt that they were going to threaten a defensive line-up that did the basics very well.

Willis is a player who I played with briefly during my time at Coventry and I’d be lying if I said I’d thought he would still be plying his trade in the English third tier at this stage of his career.

If he can stay fit then he and Wright are arguably the strongest pairing in the division and with decent back up in Sanderson and Flanagan, it’s an area that Sunderland shouldn’t need to worry about.

Back to Wyke…

Okay, so he may not be the complete striker but he is improving with every game.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He is looking very comfortable in his role under Johnson and is starting to show real prowess when it comes to putting the ball in the net.

The biggest question going forward is, can Sunderland provide the chances on a regular basis for the big no9 to stick away?

There will be better opposition than Wimbledon in the coming weeks and the team will have to add a bit more spark to their attack if they are to break through them.

After the recent run of poor league results it was the three points, rather than how they were achieved, that mattered the most at Plough Lane.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

New signing Carl Winchester came on and I thought his cameo showed that he can definitely run and manage the ball impressively. His style reminded me a little of Dean Whitehead.

If he can give Sunderland even a fraction of the value for money that Whitehead provided then he will prove to be a very astute addition.

There are a lot of games coming up in the next few weeks and you would hope that the last two games will give the squad the belief to go and get the points needed to push back into the promotion mix.

Having one of the leading marksmen looking very calm and assured in front of goal certainly fills me with a lot more confidence than what I have felt in recent weeks.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Sunderland AFC coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of SAFC coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor