Niall Huggins makes a big assumption regarding Sunderland’s attacking threat following the summer transfer window.
Sunderland let top scorer Ross Stewart go on deadline day, but signed four new strikers over the summer.
According to Niall Huggins, despite the deadline-day departure of ace scorer Ross Stewart, Sunderland have a better goal threat this season than last. Stewart scored 26 goals as the Black Cats finished fifth in League One and won promotion via the play-offs the previous season, and he scored 10 goals in 13 appearances to help them finish sixth in the Championship last season despite missing nearly three quarters of the season due to injury.
He has since joined Championship rivals Southampton at the start of the month, but because Stewart was out for so long last season, defender Huggins believes Sunderland’s attacking reinforcements brought in over the summer have given them a stronger danger. Luis Hemir, Nazariy Rusyn, and Eliezer Mayenda have all signed permanent deals for the Black Cats, while Chelsea’s Mason Burstow has joined on a season-long loan.
“I feel like last season we were brilliant and finished high up the table, even though Ross was out and we didn’t have that main threat,” stated Huggins. “With the addition of players, we now have more of a threat up top.”
“It’s just working the players in and getting them used to playing, it just adds another dynamic to our team that I think we’ll start to unlock even more as the weeks go on.”
Burstow has started the previous three games for Sunderland, while Portuguese Hemir has started one and made a half-dozen substitute appearances. Rusyn, the club’s latest addition from Ukraine, made his debut as a substitute against Cardiff City on Sunday, while Spaniard Mayenda has yet to play after suffering a hamstring injury almost immediately after arriving, but he is now close to full health.
Sunderland’s strikers have yet to score, but they are still the fourth-highest scorers in the division with 15 goals in their first eight games, with winger Jack Clarke scoring five times, midfielders Jobe Bellingham, Dan Neil, and Pierre Ekwah scoring two each, and Bradley Dack, Abdoullah Ba, Chris Rigg, and Dan Ballard scoring one each. Sunderland lost 1-0 at home to Cardiff City on Sunday, ending their five-game unbeaten run, and their season continues on Friday evening when Tony Mowbray’s men travel to Hillsborough to face bottom-of-the-table Sheffield Wednesday, who have yet to win since winning promotion.
