Dan Neil makes Sunderland dressing room admission after departures of senior players in last transfer windows
Dan Neil admits the dynamic of Sunderland’s dressing room has changed considerably this season following the departures of senior players.
The Black Cats named the youngest starting XI in the Championship this term, with an average age of 21, at Southampton earlier this month, with more experienced players unavailable due to injuries and suspensions. Sunderland have also allowed the likes of Danny Batth, Lynden Gooch and Alex Pritchard to leave in recent transfer windows, replacing them with players who are new to the division.
“I think it’s been a big dynamic shift within the group,” Neil told the Echo following Sunderland’s goalless draw against QPR. “Last week (against Southampton) was a really, really young team. I think last week we actually came out all guns blazing in the second half and think we were really, really good, similar to Leicester. We actually wanted to push on and get the winner and that’s probably our naivety with younger lads and they’ve caught us on the break and scored.
“The dynamic has shifted, you had the likes of Danny, Lynden, obviously Corry (Evans) was fit for quite a bit of last year, Pritch. But you’ve almost got a new core group of players now like me, Trai (Hume), Dan Ballard, Jack Clarke, Patrick Roberts, Patto (Anthony Patterson) in goal. It happens in football, just evolving.
