Phil Smith: I watched Sunderland's win over Hull City and these were my key conclusions

Sunderland booked their place in the fourth round of the Carabao Cup with a win over Hull City on Tuesday night.

Phil Smith was there reporting for The Echo and these were his key conclusions…

Encouraging signs for Sunderland

It is very rare for a game at this stage of the Carabao Cup to produce a spectacle and it’s fair to say that there were no surprises on that front at the Stadium of Light.

The competition is struggling for relevance, not offering the financial incentives to make progression really valuable to EFL clubs nor the historic significance to make it really appealing to the Premier League clubs who could potentially go deep if they made it a priority. For Sunderland, the additional demands of the Europa League mean it has been pushed even further down the list of priorities this season and so the eleven changes that Régis Le Bris made were fully expected. The sheer level of turnover in the teams right across the board mean free-flowing performances are near impossible, but the games serve a valuable purpose at this stage of the campaign in bolstering match fitness.

To that end, it was a very valuable exercise for Le Bris. A number of players he will be counting on in the weeks ahead got between an hour and a full game under their belt, and equally pleasing was the attitude with which they approached the game. It was fair for the Hull City boss to say that this was a 50-50 game and that his side had been unlucky not to be awarded an early penalty, but Sunderland played good football at times and on balance of play were deserving of their win.

This competition still represents one of Sunderland’s best chances of glory this season and Le Bris spoke well afterwards, saying they would take it game by game and that if the injury situation remains positive then he will have the options and depth to give it a go.

When the next round comes around in late October, it will be clear whether after the end of the initial burst of Europa League fixtures whether the head coach has the depth to try and field a really competitive side or not. All Sunderland can do is go round by round and they approached this one in the right way.

Jules Ahoka makes a striking impression on debut

While underlining the caveat that this clash did not have the intensity of a league contest, a neutral watching this game would have been stunned to learn that Sunderland’s holding midfielder had never played in red-and-white and in fact had only four senior appearances in European club football to his name.

Ahoka was steady in possession, broke up the play well and was dominant in the air. As Le Bris explained afterwards, you can be sure of a player’s potential but not know how they will fare until they are in the heat of the action. Ahoka did not look in the slightest bit flustered, tidy to begin with and increasingly confident as the game progressed. It’s clear that the youngster has been signed as Granit Xhaka’s understudy and so there will have to be patience and realism about his likely game time in the months ahead. On this evidence, however, Sunderland look to have executed some brave but very sound succession planning in that part of the pitch.

Improving depth gives Le Bris confidence for the long campaign ahead

This time last year, Sunderland had rung the changes for the visit of League One Huddersfield Town and somewhat laboured to a penalty shootout exit. It was a mere footnote in their ultimately very successful season, but at the time was a reminder that there was much work to be done in building out the depth of a Premier League squad.

The progress in twelve months is encouraging. Chris Rigg has visibly grown in maturity and confidence since then, a genuine starting option for Le Bris. Dayann Methalie and Malick Fofana grew into the game to show their class while the other defensive options were strikingly good in the context of currently being substitutes on a Premier League matchday.

This is undoubtedly going to be a long and testing season but Sunderland are starting from a decent place.

Chemsdine Talbi delivers statement showing after dramatic week

Having initially appeared to have a glut of options on the left and in advanced central areas, serious injuries to Romaine Mundle and Habib Diarra meant a move abroad for Chemsdine Talbi would have left Sunderland very light.

So news of his staying was a welcome boost ahead of the game, but lingering was the concern that the transfer talks and his being left out of the Europa League squad might have knocked his confidence and motivation. Not so. Talbi was a menace from minute one, producing the game’s best moment to send his side into the next round. Le Bris has been weighing up playing him in a central role for some time, but has never really had the opportunity to do so. After a week of uncertainty, Talbi has emerged once again as a key player for Sunderland and most importantly he looks ready to play his part.

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Tom Proctor lands deserved debut

Insiders noted how quickly Proctor has developed over recent months, and there has been a marked improvement in his game and his maturity having made the most of his opportunity to work with the senior team through pre-season.

One of the consistently most impressive and forward-thinking youngsters through the US tour, this was a richly-deserved moment and an emotional one behind the scenes. Proctor is a boyhood Sunderland fan, and follows in the footsteps of his dad and current first-team coach Michael.

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