Stephen Elliott: This is why this Sunderland player will become a cult hero on Wearside

He has been strong, physical and his use of the ball has been impressive.

He has really stood up and been a real leader on the pitch. I think the armband has given him more responsibility and he has thrived with it.

Alongside Jordan Willis I feel the football club have two of the best centre-backs in the division.

You are starting to see why Phil Parkinson was so keen to get Wright re-signed for this season.

He reads the game very well and it appears that Willis is happy to join in the attack knowing he has that comfort blanket of his skipper behind him covering.

He trusts his defensive partner and that is a huge thing for centre-backs.

Injuries have been a problem through Wright’s career so that would be the only worry I would have going forward with him.

If he stays fit, then Sunderland have a proper defender who could go on to become a big cult hero at the football club.

On reflection it has been a decent start to the league campaign.

On paper it was a difficult opening run of fixtures, but the team find themselves unbeaten and with eight points from four games are right in the promotion mix.

I feel like the team are an early goal away from putting a team to the sword convincingly. Let us hope Swindon are that team on the receiving end in two weeks time.

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