Mark Venus has tipped Sunderland’s strugglers to turn things around.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference, the coach admitted that their four new strikers had been ‘working hard’ as they look to add goals to the team.
Sunderland saw Ross Stewart leave the club in the summer and had limited time to replace the striker, who had scored 36 goals in 62 games over the last two seasons.
Instead of bringing in an experienced Championship forward, the Black Cats took a huge risk and added Mason Burstow, Nazariy Rusyn, Eliezer Mayenda and Hemir Semedo to their ranks.
Rusyn had been the only player who was proven in senior football (albeit in Ukraine), while the other three had a grand total of one goal between them.
The strikers have so far taken turns in their team as they look to be the first one to get off the mark, but Tony Mowbray is currently set to hand his final forward in Mayenda a chance this evening before fans begin to panic.
Despite a very difficult start for the four attackers, Mark Venus doesn’t appear to be too concerned.
As per The Northern Echo, he said: “We have scored plenty of goals this season, The strikers are all talented guys, they have come into the club and it isn’t easy to settle into the league. As we know, it’s a tough league but they’ll keep working hard and hopefully will adapt in time and I’m sure their talent will come through and they’ll contribute.
“It’s hard for these lads, when you come to a different country, especially in a league as intense as this one, everyone tells you how difficult it is. Lots of teams come down from the Premier League and can’t find their feet, never mind young players from different climates. They’re working really hard and we’re all pulling in the same direction.”
What is the problem with Sunderland’s attack?
Sunderland have scored 27 goals in the Championship this season, a very similar amount to the four teams that currently sit in the play-off spots.
However, the problem is that none of them have come from up front.
Adil Aouchiche has got his first goal, Jack Clarke is flying and even Chris Rigg bagged his first senior goal against Southampton.
So what is the problem?
We seem to smash it everywhere else when bringing in new players, so we surely can’t just be incapable of buying goalscorers.
Perhaps it is just the way we play, because it is rarely that we actually see these strikers miss clear-cut opportunities. Instead, they just rarely see the ball at all.
Tonight is the perfect chance for Eliezer Mayenda to prove himself, but a disappointing performance on the Wearside could be very concerning.