Sunderland made it three games unbeaten as they claimed a comfortable win over Plymouth Argyle this weekend.
Sunderland looked set to endure another difficult afternoon as some poor positioning from Anthony Patterson allowed Plymouth to net the opener just short of half-time.
However, an impressive half-time talk from Michael Beale fired up the hosts, before three wonderful goals from Pierre Ekwah, Jack Clarke and Jobe Bellingham secured an important three points on home turf.
The victory sees Sunderland climb back into the play-off spots yet again, though they still sit only three points from a mid-table position.
It was an impressive performance tactically from Beale too, who opted to drop Jobe Bellingham and bring Patrick Roberts back in the frame – moving Abdoullah Ba to a more central position behind the striker.
Jobe had started all but two games in the Championship this term, but had looked desperate for a rest after a number of games where he had looked far from his best.
The midfielder’s first rest since the start of December saw him net only minutes after he was brought on – his first goal since the 1-0 win over Leeds United two months ago.
It was the right decision to drop him in the end, and Beale has now explained why he did it.
Speaking to Sunderland Echo, the 43-year-old said: “We spoke about it on Thursday.
“We spoke about this week, three really big games. We’ve got a lot of travelling to do, down to Huddersfield and back, then down to Birmingham. Pierre was pre-planned [substitution]. You can’t plan it 100 per cent but it was pre-planned that the midfield would rotate a little bit this week.
“We’d play with one more up the pitch, certainly at home. Abdoullah [Ba] deserved to stay in the team and I think Paddy (Roberts) has shown what we’ve missed in moments with that dribbling ability. There’s so many positives at the moment. Young Rigg coming on as well.”
Could Chris Rigg be given a chance too?
So it’s clear that Jobe Bellingham will come back into the starting line-up against Huddersfield Town and hopefully yesterday’s clash will really give him a boost.
While Pierre Ekwah and Dan Neil also put on an excellent display against Plymouth, it would be great to see Chris Rigg given a chance over the next couple of games.
Michael Beale has suggested there could be changes and the teenager has looked really promising in his recent cameo appearances.
Even if it doesn’t come this month, I’m sure we will see Rigg gradually pick up more minutes and eventually a few starts. Though Callum Styles’ impending arrival to the match-day squad could push him to work even harder to climb up the pecking order.