This is why Sunderland fans will soon see the best of Charlie Wyke

That’s the view of assistant manager Steve Parkin, who has tipped the striker to make a big impact between now and the end of the season after returning from injury.

Wyke, just back from an ankle injury sustained in Phil Parkinson’s first game in charge at Wycombe Wanderers, returned to the starting line-up and scored the equaliser in the 1-1 draw with Blackpool at the Stadium of Light.

Wyke almost doubled his tally but he saw a second half header cannon off the crossbar as ten-man Sunderland dropped more points at home, the Black Cats dropping to 12th in the process.

Parkin, reflecting on Wyke’s impact, said: “We tried to sign Charlie when we were at Bolton.

“He has a lot of aspects of his game that can be very beneficial to this football club, there’s no doubt about that.

“His power and strength is good but he can finish as well and we saw that with his goal.

“The key thing with Charlie is to have a block of training and a block of games where he does not get injured, and if that happens we will see the best of him.”

Sunderland cut the gap to the play-offs to four points but dropped a place to 12th in League One and that equals the club’s lowest-ever league placing.

Parkin - standing in for Phil Parkinson post-match - remains confident the squad will soon turn the situation around ahead of a busy festive period.

He added: “We have to get back in the pack and try to chase a few down. In an ideal world we would probably have a game next weekend rather than another free Saturday.

“We have to drive ourselves into the position where we want to be and there is certainly a belief amongst the players that we can do that.

“We’ve had a few difficult weeks, a few difficult results, and we have had to show some character and come through that as they did [against Blackpool] and build on that."

Sunderland host Bolton Wanderers on Boxing Day at the Stadium of Light.