Stephen Elliott: This is what separates Sunderland boss Lee Johnson from Phil Parkinson and Jack Ross

He is one of the few players in the squad that can run quickly, not that it is his only attribute of course.

In a team that is obviously lacking pace I thought he would have been one of the first names on Lee Johnson’s teamsheet.

Watching the game, that lack of energy was missing yet again and I felt it was crying out for the youngster.

Maybe the manager felt he needed a little break as he had started the majority of the recent league games.

To be fair to Johnson, he obviously had a plan and a vision of what he was doing.

He decided it was best to hold him back till Wimbledon were a bit stretched and fatigued.

It proved to be a very good tactical move by the manager in the end.

When Diamond did come on, he caused Wimbledon a lot of problems and was extremely unlucky not to get on the scoresheet himself in the last minute when his low drive struck the post.

Since Johnson has arrived, the performances have not been drastically different if we are being honest.

But what is different, is the club now has a man in charge that seems to analyse games as they are playing out, and what’s more, actually makes meaningful changes. That is something that we didn’t see with his predecessors.

Provided he is given the tools he requires, the club could have a manager that finally brings some good times back to the city.

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