The ex-Sunderland man Regis Le Bris needs to be wary of ahead of Preston North End clash

There’s a photograph that sometimes does the rounds on social media. In truth, you might even have seen it; Dan Neil and Sam Greenwood - fresh-faced, diminutive, but unmistakably recognisable - in the stands at Wembley, sporting Sunderland shirts with Adidas stripes running down the sleeves and Bidvest plastered across the front.

At the time it was taken, both were hopeful academy saplings on Wearside. A decade or so later, and their fortunes since could hardly have been more different.

While Neil has stayed the course at the Stadium of Light, establishing himself as an indispensable first team presence and being justly rewarded for his meteoric rise with the captain’s armband over the summer, Greenwood has ricocheted from club to club without ever truly laying down any meaningful roots. First came a high-profile move to Arsenal while still at youth level, before an eventual switch to Leeds United, a handful of brief dalliances with the Premier League, and subsequent loan stints with Middlesbrough, and now, Preston North End.

In that time, he has made just shy of 90 first team appearances, and has scored with the infrequency of a player yet to properly find himself in the senior game. Or at least, that was the case until very recently. Heading into a clash against his boyhood club at Deepdale on Wednesday evening, Greenwood has now registered three goals in his last three Championship outings, and at the age of 22, has finally taken on the look of a legitimate danger man.

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For Preston, chugging along in the lower reaches of the table with just one win in their last five matches, that can only be good news. For Sunderland, and the ruling of Sod's Law that seems to preside over their reunions with former players, it is a point of mild concern.

Regis Le Bris’ side head to Lancashire as strong favourites in midweek - top of the second tier and some 15 points clear of their opponents at this early stage of the campaign. But Saturday’s thorny 0-0 draw against QPR proved that their are pitfalls aplenty to navigate in seemingly winnable matches across the breadth of the Championship, and in his current form, Greenwood very much represents one such banana skin.

As for the player himself, he appears to be revelling in his time with North End. In a recent interview, he said: “All the lads are brilliant and the manager is top, so yeah, I am loving it. It is a good group and we are all really close. We have banter every day, play games and stuff, so yeah, I love it." Ahead of yet another busy week for Sunderland, one of head coach Le Bris’ first priorities will be ensuring that the ex-Black Cat has nothing extra to smile about when he pits his wits against his old side on Wednesday night.