---
title: "Sunderland: Alex Neil lauds Arbenit Xhemajli’s display v Wigan"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/arbenit-xhemajli-alex-neil-wigan-league-one/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Adam Clancy"
section: "Sunderland News"
published: "2022-02-27T17:45:21Z"
modified: "2022-02-27T17:45:21Z"
---

# Sunderland: Alex Neil lauds Arbenit Xhemajli’s display v Wigan

**Alex Neil was full of praise for Arbenit Xhemajli’s performance for Sunderland in their 3-0 win at Wigan Athletic in League One on Saturday afternoon.**

### The Lowdown: Filled in well

In the absence of both Danny Batth and Callum Doyle, the 23-year-old had to play at centre-back for the Wearsiders, and he helped his team to keep a clean sheet against the high-flying Latics.

\[freshpress-poll id=”389311″\]

It was only the [second](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/arbenit-xhemajli/leistungsdatendetails/spieler/354155/plus/0?saison=2021&verein=289&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id=) senior appearance he had made all season, and his first in League One, and the Kosovo international will now be hoping for more opportunities under Neil as the campaign progresses.

### The Latest: Neil praise for Xhemajli

As cited by [The Chronicle](https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/alex-neil-praises-sunderland-players-23223970?t=), Neil was left very impressed with the performance of Xhemajli when speaking to the media after the match.

The Sunderland manager gushed: *“Arby hasn’t played in a long, long, time, so I was delighted for him that he got an opportunity and he put in a really solid performance.”*

### The Verdict: More to come

There should certainly be more to come from Xhemajli, who at 23 years of age still has plenty of years ahead of him.

The defender was a monster on the day, winning nine of his duels (the second-most out of his team-mates), while he also made a team-high three clearances and recorded one tackle ([SofaScore](https://www.sofascore.com/wigan-athletic-sunderland/QsZ)).

It was a display of which he should be proud, and one that he can now build upon as he seeks to prove his worth to Neil and the Sunderland fan base.

***In other news,*** [***these were Sunderland’s three worst performers v Wigan***](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/sunderland-afc-news/gooch-evans-winchester-wigan-league-one/)