Sunderland’s play-off train had derailed in recent weeks, suffering three consecutive defeats at the hands of Middlesbrough, Stoke City and Leicester City.
This alarming slump in form was a cause for concern, however, that was removed on Saturday as the Black Cats romped to a 3-1 victory over Norwich City to move to within one point of sixth place Cardiff City.
Tony Mowbray has seen several stars shine this term, including fleet-footed winger Jack Clarke, who is subject to Premier League interest, midfield maestro Dan Neil and solid centre-back Dan Ballard.
Unfortunately, one area that hasn’t seen an individual stand out this term is the striker position.
Since the departure of clinical finisher Ross Stewart to Southampton in the summer – who scored 40 goals in 80 games for the club – neither Mason Burstow, Luis Semedo nor Nazariy Rusyn have taken the bull by the horns and filled the void left behind by the Scotsman.
Nazariy Rusyn’s season by numbers
When eyeing up replacements for Stewart in the summer, instead of splashing the cash on one striker, Mowbray decided to spread the funds across three different forwards.
Rusyn was signed from Zorya Lugansk for a reported €2.5m (£2.2m), Mason Burstow was acquired on loan from Chelsea and Luis Semedo arrived as a highly-rated striker from Benfica.
With a blend of pace, strength and an eye for goal between the aforementioned trio, Mowbray must have felt he had done enough to resolve Sunderland’s goal-scoring conundrum.
Mason Burstow had scored ten goals in 25 Premier League 2 appearances for Chelsea last term, while Rusyn plundered 21 goals in 49 matches for Zorya and Semedo was clinical for Benfica’s U23s, netting 21 in 44 matches.
The above records point towards three clinical strikers and at the time, it looked as though the club had done some solid business to prise three talented youngsters to the club, however, 14 matches later and zero goals between them, that couldn’t be any further from the truth.
With frustrations ever-growing, Mowbray could use some of the Stewart cash to bring in another striker in January, or he could unleash promising teenager, Harry Gardiner from the academy.
The 20-year-old has been scoring goals for fun in Premier League 2.
The player who could replace Nazariy Rusyn
Sunderland are accustomed to unearthing talented youngsters from their academy having thrown Dan Neil and 16-year-old Chris Rigg into the first-team set-up.
It is, therefore, imperative that Mowbray continues to pluck youngsters from the U21s and throw them into the senior team, with Gardiner making a strong case to become the next academy revelation.
The clinical finisher, who was nominated for September’s Player of the Month award in PL2 after bagging four goals in three games against Manchester United, Derby County and Aston Villa, has showcased his predatory instincts in the box.
After his hard work and sensational form earned the recognition he deserved, U21’s manager Graeme Murty took to the Sunderland official website to speak about his progress.
He said: “He is in a rich vein of form at the moment. We are constantly bigging him up with humility and hard work. There is a good group around him who will always look to feed him, especially inside the area. We ask him to get in there and he is very focused on getting goals.”
That outstanding form in September wasn’t out of the ordinary for Gardiner. He’s been tearing through opposition defences for years now, having posted 18 goals in 47 appearances across Sunderland’s underage groups.
Hailed by journalist Josh Bunting as “excellent” for his form last term, the young striker is banging down Mowbray’s door for a first-team opportunity and if his current crop of strikers continue to fire blanks, he’ll have no other choice but to unleash the powerful poacher.
