This is what Phil Parkinson said about his two key Sunderland selection calls on Saturday

Wyke was handed his first league start of the season as the Black Cats secured three crucial points with a 1-0 win against Peterborough United.

Parkinson had also handed a first league start in 2020/21 to Lynden Gooch, who had scored a stunning solo goal at the Kassam Stadium a week previous.

The Black Cats boss said the pair had ‘worked tirelessly’ for the team at the Stadium of Light.

“We started with Charlie and Goochy, Goochy obviously got his goal off the bench last week and I felt those two had linked up well, not just in the game last week but also in training,” Parkinson said.

“I also knew that Peterborough would draw the ball out from the back and play from the back, and I wanted the legs of those two up there to stop that at source.

“I thought they worked tirelessly for the team.

“It's always then good to have the freshness of Danny [Graham] and Aiden [O'Brien] to come off the bench.”

Parkinson was forced into an early reshuffle when Chris Maguire came off in the 38th minute of the game, with Gooch dropping deeper into midfield and Josh Scowen moving further forward.

The Black Cats boss is hopeful that Maguire won’t be out for long, saying: “I don't think it's anything really serious.

“I spoke briefly with the physio and he just said that he took a whack.

“At first he felt the pain in his lower hamstring but none of the tests he's done suggest it's a hamstring strain.

“If it's an impact injury, it won't be as long.”

Max Power should return to the fold for the clash with Charlton Athletic next weekend, and Parkinson may well change his centre forward again at the Valley, having signalled in the

build-up to this game that rotation in the forward line could be a theme of the season.

"In my mind, there's still players and positions that are up for grabs," Parkinson had said.

"I do feel we've got a lot of tight calls to make and there are a lot of players who it is difficult to choose between. That's great, it's what we want.

"It's about getting the balance of the side right and looking at the opposition, what are their strengths and weaknesses? Which of our front players can hurt them the most?

"We went with Danny Graham up front last week because I felt that the left-sided centre-back [Rob Atkinson] was new to league football, and Danny's nous would give him a problem," he explained.

"We're looking again at Peterborough this week, at the combination of our front players that might give their back three, if they play with that as they have done [so far], the most problems.

"I feel this year we've got the option to do that and we're looking closely at training every day to pick the best team."

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