Sunderland are set to reunite with a former forward on Saturday after his Wearside stay lasted just 144 days.
Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats side are preparing for the visit of Millwall this weekend, with the latest round of international break fixtures over, Sunderland supporters will be welcoming back Championship action with open arms.
Prior to the break, the Black Cats suffered a disappointing week of results. Sunderland were beaten 3-0 by Coventry in a disappointing display in the final game before the break, days after Sunderland’s 1-1 draw at home to Preston coming from a late Romain Mundle screamer.
Le Bris will be hoping his fourth-placed Black Cats side come back refreshed for the crucial Championship run-in following Sunderland’s ‘lazy’ display against Coventry.
Sunderland’s first fixture of their final eight is against 11th-placed Millwall with former ‘villain’ boss Alex Neil set to return to the Stadium of Light, alongside former Sunderland striker Aaron Connolly, whose fortunes are still yet to turn around after he recently departed the Black Cats.
Aaron Connolly’s Millwall one-goal record since leaving Sunderland
Connolly has endured another torrid time with form since his arrival at Millwall during the January window. Under Neil, Connolly has featured ten times – with only three starts – and has only found the net once for Millwall in their 2-1 win over QPR back in early February.
Neil has limited the former Brighton youngster to a handful of substitute appearances and Connolly has failed to rediscover his goalscoring form present during his eight-goal campaign for Hull City last season.
| Aaron Connolly for Sunderland 2024-25 | Aaron Connolly for Millwall 2024-25 |
| Games – 11 | Games – 10 |
| Goals – 1 | Goals – 1 |
| Assists – 0 | Assists – 0 |
| Average rating – 6.2 | Average rating – 6.3 |
| Minutes played – 466′ | Minutes played – 360′ |
Former Sunderland boss Neil told the BBC after Connolly’s switch from Sunderland to Millwall was confirmed: “From our perspective it was a bit of a no-brainer. Hopefully Aaron can come in and hit the ground [running] between now and the end of the season.”
Unfortunately for Connolly, who won the hearts of Sunderland fans and the wider footballing world after bravely speaking out about his alcohol addiction, has failed to hit the ground running with the Lions having failed to score or assist in his last five outings.
Why Millwall striker Aaron Connolly’s move to Sunderland never worked out
On paper, Connolly’s recruitment by Sunderland made sense. An experienced football league operator, who came up through Brighton’s academy and scored against Spurs on his Seagulls debut, coming off the back of his best goalscoring campaign to date.
In reality, Connolly’s chances were limited given the outrageous form of Sunderland forward duo Wilson Isidor and Eliezer Mayenda, who share 26 combined direct goal contributions between them so far this term for the Black Cats.
Connolly was never the right for Le Bris’ style of play and in the words of Sunderland reporter Michael Graham, Connolly was ‘not the profile needed for the quick transition game that SAFC want to play.’ A fair assessment as Lions boss Neil added of forward Connolly: “(He’s) stocky, quick over the ground over the first five-to-10 yards.”
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Sunderland supporters will be hoping the infuriating trend of former players scoring against the Black Cats will not continue this weekend, although it is unlikely Connolly will start the clash on Saturday.
The crucial visit of Millwall has been tipped to be ‘tough’ for Sunderland with Le Bris’ side desperate to get back to winning ways ahead of the play-off push.