Sunderland host Cardiff City on Saturday in another crucial game at the top of the Championship. The Black Cats welcome the Welsh side to the Stadium of Light for a 3pm kick-off.
Regis Le Bris’ men bounced back in style in their last outing, beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1 at Hillsborough. The win cemented their place in fourth as the Championship promotion race builds towards an exciting climax.
Sunderland trail third-placed Burnley by six points, and are a further two points behind Sheffield United, who occupy the last automatic promotion spot. While a play-off position looks nailed on, Le Bris wants his side to keep pushing for the top two.
Cardiff stand in their way this weekend. The Bluebirds are fourth bottom and in a real relegation scrap, but have shown a little bit of fight and form in recent games, and only narrowly went down 2-1 against Burnley in their last outing. The defeat was expected against a promotion-chasing side but they took encouragement from the becoming the first team to score in the league against Burnley since December.
It was 23-year-old Yousef Salech, who signed from Swedish club Sirius in January, who found the net – his fifth goal in 11 appearances so far. The striker represents the biggest threat to Sunderland’s backline on Saturday, and his manager has backed him to be a thorn in the side of defences after admitting there was a gamble behind his transfer.
Boss Omer Riza, when asked if he was surprised how well Salech had taken to English football, told WalesOnline: “Put it this way, when I wanted to sign him, the message was, ‘This is on you. Is he at the level to step up to the Championship? Is he going to be able to do this? Or do that?’
“I said, ‘Look, I’m telling you what he’s going to do’ and so far, touch wood, he is doing that. I always say, live by the sword, die by the sword, let’s hope it continues. I don’t want to put too much pressure on him. We’ve got other players like (Callum Robinson) up there who can score goals, that’s their job.
“He was good (against Burnley), Yousef, he was strong, won his headers and first and second balls, he tried to bring the ball in. He created opportunities and scored an opportunity. I’m really happy with him.
“I had the confidence he would do well. Players take time to settle, but other than the first couple of days when he looked a bit nervy coming into the group, he takes things in his stride. I keep saying, he is honest, hard working, hungry, wants to get better, engaged, he’s scored five now and could have had a hat-trick today! He is doing excellent and working hard.”
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