Sunderland kickstarted the new season with a 2-0 win over Cardiff City at the weekend.
Fans approached their Championship owner with no real idea on how it would pan out, with Regis Le Bris having arrived at the club earlier this summer.
The Frenchman faced a big challenge after Sunderland’s underwhelming 16th place finish last term, while he had something to prove after he was relegated with Lorient.
While far from perfect, the Black Cats did enough to claim all three points in Wales, with Jack Clarke confirming the victory as he doubled the lead late on.
It wasn’t the winger who hit the headlines for his performance though, with the likes of Jobe Bellingham and Dennis Cirkin receiving high praise for their own displays.
The latter made his comeback to the starting line-up after managing only three appearances in the last seven months of the previous campaign.
Sunderland struggled in the left-back position last season due to their long list of injuries, but Cirkin has returned with a bang and now looks likely to keep his place fairly undisturbed if he can stay fit.
Dennis Cirkin return is absolutely ‘massive’
The 22-year-old was rightfully applauded for his performance, while journalist Phil Smith believes he is the answer to the Black Cats’ ‘big problem’.
Speaking on Sunderland Echo’s YouTube channel, Smith said: “It’s massive isn’t it? He doesn’t look impacted by his injury at all. Going forward today – Clarke is brilliant, but it’s another dimension when he’s got Cirkin overlapping him. It was a big problem last year when Clarke was pretty much doing it himself.”
Cirkin’s attacking attributes have been key to Sunderland since he joined the club, with the defender’s brace against West Brom in April 2022 proving pivotal in their push for the play-offs.
Niall Huggins went onto replace him when he got injured and did a very good job as an attacking full-back, but once he was sidelined himself, the likes of Leo Hjelde and Callum Styles struggled to replicate their overlapping style.
Thankfully, Clarke is exceptionally talented and was often able to push on and score goals on his own, but having Cirkin beside him proved very useful against Cardiff.
Why Cirkin’s injury problems has its positives
The left-back’s injury record has been frustrating for Sunderland, but in hindsight, it may well be a positive.
According to the Sunderland Echo, Tottenham had inserted a buy-back clause into Cirkin’s contract when he arrived on Wearside in 2021, which expired this summer.
While The Sun claimed they were interested in 2022, they opted against triggering the clause – most likely due to his injuries.
If Cirkin had regularly played last season and had maintained his brilliant form, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see Spurs take him back to North London.
Now that their clause is no longer active, Sunderland will hope he can avoid any further injuries, because there is no doubt that he will play a key role if the club are to reach the play-offs once again.