Danny Collins has praised Nazariy Rusyn following Sunderland’s draw with Swansea City.
Speaking on Sunderland AFC’s YouTube channel, the former defender hailed Rusyn as ‘excellent’ after he made his second start for the club.
After months of speculation, Nazariy Rusyn finally completed his move to Wearside from Zorya Luhansk on transfer deadline day.
The forward went onto make his debut in the defeat to Cardiff City later that month and remained on the bench as Tony Mowbray opted to start Mason Burstow instead.
However, the Chelsea loanee went eight games without scoring for the Black Cats before Rusyn was brought into the starting line-up to replace him against Norwich.
The Ukrainian hasn’t had too many chances to get off the mark in his two starts so far, however he has impressed supporters and has looked a lot more lively up top than Burstow.
While Rusyn did have a good opportunity to open the scoring in Wales at the weekend, Danny Collins has admitted that his movement was ‘excellent’.
“Yes, Rusyn, especially in the first half, he only got 10 minutes in the second half and did not see too much of the ball,” Collins said after the match.
“But in the first half I thought his movement was excellent, willing to run in behind that threaded one from Jobe.
“That is what I am saying, probably last night he knows he is starting and he is probably dreaming as a centre forward, thinking just give me something to set off a little one-on-one with the goalkeeper and that was his golden chance.”
Can Nazariy Rusyn be the striker we have been waiting for all year?
While the likes of Patrick Roberts and Jack Clarke are some of the most talented attackers in the Championship, we still seem to struggle to provide our strikers with many clear-cut chances.
However, Nazariy Rusyn has looked highly effective without actually scoring his first goal yet.
Both Mason Burstow and Luis Hemir Semedo have looked fairly static during their spells on the pitch, while Rusyn looks to move around a lot more and make an impact elsewhere – though that is probably because he was often played out wide in Ukraine.
Hopefully the goals will come as there will already be unwanted pressure on Rusyn, just because of our lack of success in that department this year.
The 25-year-old is definitely my first choice for now, though I imagine Eliezer Mayenda will be prepared to challenge him for that position very soon.