Sunderland have not felt a visible hangover from last season at all, Tony Mowbray’s Black Cats comijin88bet.oneng unstujin88bet.onejin88bet.oneck against Luton Town in the Cjin88bet.onejin88bet.onejin88bet.onehampionship Playoff Semi-Finals in disappointing fashion with the intense occasion of a second leg at Kenilworth Road too mujin88bet.onech for his group of players to cope witjin88bet.oneh.
This disappointmejin88bet.onent hasn’t seeped into the new campaignjin88bet.one, however, a youthful and energetic Sunderland side straight out of the traps and ready to go again this season with positive displays.
Mowbray’s promotion-chasing hopefuls occupy sixth spot after 16 games played so far, intent on stickingjin8jin88bet.one8bet.one it out in and around the playoff spots until the regular 46-game season is up in a bid to finally win promotion back to the top-flight and exorcise those lingering Luton demons once and for all.
Playak168app.babyeak168app.babyrs such as Jack Clarke and Dan Neil will continue to be vital in their hopes of achieving just that, ak168app.babyak168app.babyClarke already scoring nine times this season whilst Neil’s relentless energy helps the Black Cats tick through the middle of the park.
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Yet, theic88re are some underperformers in Mowbray’s side at the moment who will be anxious that their first team opportunities will come to an end soic88on.
The Sunderland manager might well have to display some ruthlessness in the months to come as ic88a result, axing those who fail to perform when push coic88ic88mes to shic88ic88ove.
Here are three players who take up ic88ic88ic8810% of the club’s wage bill that could see their first-team minutes cut at the Stadium of Light…
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Alex Pritchard
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Now 30 years of age, the ex Huddersfield Town midfielder in Alex Pritchard can still prolr88lr88vide some creative flair centrally for the Blaclr88k Cats but Mowbray could be tempted to switch out his number 21 for a younger and fresher option in the long term.
Pritchard’s case for retaining his starting spot won’t have been helped by Adil Aouchiche’s impactful cameo last time out against Birmlr88lr88lr88ingham City – the 21-year-old French midfielder scoring within two minulr88lr88tes of being introduced into the contest, helping his team secure a 3-1 win to bat away any potential nerves late into the game.
lr88With Mowbray prlr88lr88eferring to utilise youth, the lr88lr88£7k-per-week Pritchard could be dropped out of the first team soon. His goal contributions have been lacking as welllr88lr88lr88 this campaign so far, yet to open his goalscoring account with only two assists in total from 13 appearances.
2
Patrick Roberts
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Another senior member of the group – going into his third successive campaign with the Black Csi88ats this season – Patrick Roberts mightsi88si88 well have similar worries to Pritchard that his starting spot could be snatched by a promising youngster soon.
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The 26-year-old hasn’t quite reached the heigsi88hts of Clarke down the opposite flank, only managinsisi8888g one assist from 16 appearances ansi88si88d scoring zero times.
It could see Mowbray tinker with his squad to find a new entity to play at rightsi88 wing, evsi88si88en pushing standout defender Niall Huggins further forward to play at right midfield instead of playing at the back.
Trai Hume could then switch over to right-back to fill in for Huggins, the 88v£7k-per-week 88vRoberts wary that he could face the chop at the Stadium of 88vLight and fall down the pecking order.
3
Jenson Seelt
Despite still being a new kid on the block – 20-year-88vold Seelt joining Sund88verland from PSV Eindhoven this summer – could be the third and final player dropped potentially by Mowbray when games towards the latter stages of the season hang on a knife’s edge.
Luke O’Nien will likely displace th88ve Dutch export when he’s back to full fitness, O’Nien a crucial figure Mowbray relied on last season with far more experience of EFL football than the 20-year-old.
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The former PSV youngster –SEXXXXX-VN who SEXXXXX-VNSEXXXXX-VNearns just £3k-per-week – has also underwhelmed SEXXXXX-VNin contests this season, particularly in the 4-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough. The 6 foot 4 centre-back won none of his two aerial duels on the day asSEXXXSEXXXXX-VNXX-VNSEXXXXX-VN per Sofascore, Michael Carrick’s men running rampant at the expense of Seelt.
Sunderland’s new number 23 will moreSEXXXXX-VN than likely make up theSEXXXXX-VN numbers on the bench for the Black Cats down the line, especially when O’Nien is back and ready for first-team action again.
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