Dan Neil reflects on his breakthrough season, THAT Wembley win and what's ahead

Dan Neil has been living the dream of Sunderland fans since breaking into the first-team set-up.
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The boyhood fan made 46 appearances in all competitions for the Black Cats last season, including 39 in League One as the Wearsiders finally managed to gain promotion through the play-offs.

He had some stand-out moments of quality too, registering seven league assists in the first half of the campaign and netting his first senior goal against Accrington Stanley with a screamer at the Stadium of Light. After scoring with a left-footed shot from range, the player celebrated at the end of the ground that he used to watch as a supporter.

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It was a "roller coaster season” by Dan Neil’s own admission, one that saw head coach Lee Johnson sacked and replaced by Alex Neil. The switch meant the midfielder's game time was significantly reduced as he was taken out of the firing line by his new coach.

Sunderland's Dan Neil.Sunderland's Dan Neil.
Sunderland's Dan Neil.

“Obviously as a player, you're never going to say that you don't want to play, because I did want to play every single game,” said Dan Neil when reflecting on the latter part of Sunderland’s season. “Looking back at it now, it was probably a good bit of man management.

"At the end of the day the gaffer got the goal that everybody wanted and that was to get promoted. That little break gave me time to reflect on what was a good season, but also a season that could have been improved. Hopefully, I can use that going into this season and improve on it.

"Although I didn't play in the most important games at the end of the season, I was still one who got some of the highest minutes in the squad.”

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Dan Neil has been part of two Sunderland teams to reach Wembley. He was an unused substitute against Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off final last season and played his part in Sunderland reaching the final of the Papa John’s Trophy the previous campaign.

“I remember in the Papa John's, I played in every round except the final and I didn't enjoy it as much as what I should have because I was gutted about not playing in the final. I was determined not to let that happen again if we won the play-off final.”

“I was gutted that I couldn’t get any minutes. I played through the season and I was desperate for this team to get promoted ever since I got into the first-team set-up. So whoever was on the pitch, it didn’t matter as we got that job done.

“We did thankfully and hopefully, we can leave League One in the past and we can continue to improve and see where that takes us in the next few years.”

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Alex Neil is a straight-talker, that much is for sure, but how do you let a player know they won’t be playing in such an important game? For Alex Neil and Sunderland, it was business and professionalism as usual.

“We just treated it as another game so there wasn’t any different ways of telling you that you weren’t in the team,” Dan Neil added. “The team gets put up and you kind of know from the day before whether you are in the team or not anyway.

“I think at that point there was a pretty settled 11 and it was tough to get the shirts off them because they were playing so well. Them boys got the job done as well as the other lads throughout the full season.

“It was a marathon but them 11 players there did the job at Wembley and gained promotion.”

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Despite not being picked to start, Dan Neil was able to enjoy the occasion with his fan hat on as Sunderland took the lead through Elliot Embleton in the first half, with Ross Stewart wrapping things up after the break.

“I’ve been to Wembley three times not as a player and lost all three so I know how they feel in the stands when we don’t win. I know how nervous they get from Wembley. I seen a lot of things when we finished in the play-offs about the Wembley curse.

“But it was at the start of the game when the lads lined up. I was sat on the bench and they started singing and you couldn’t hear yourself think. The national anthem was delayed it was unbelievable. Hopefully, we can have another one of those days.”

Although Dan Neil had a front-row seat at Wembley for Sunderland’s victory, it has been well-documented that the England U20 international has had several opportunities to leave the club.

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There were several approaches from clubs higher up the food chain when the player was still a youth teamer and Sunderland were still in the third tier, but Neil was always clear about where his immediate ambitions were.

“When I came in full-time as a 16-year-old, we were in League One at the time and I was determined to get into the first team because I wanted to be part of the squad that got us promoted.

“So when there was rumours I wasn’t really interested because my only goal was to do everything I can personally to help the team to get this club promoted back to the Championship.

“And now the goal is to do as well as we can in the Championship and see where that takes us.”