Sunderland centre-forward Charlie Wyke is set to be in contention to play against Rotherham tonight.
Jack Ross confirmed during a pre-match interview that Wyke will be back available after a “little ankle injury”, as well as suspension.
Within the same interview, the Scottish manager confirmed that Duncan Watmore will still be missing from the squad.
Fifth in the league Sunderland face Rotherham, 13th, at the Stadium of Light this evening and could go top if results go their way.
Wyke will be a welcomed return for Sunderland considering their lack of goals from strikers this season.
So far Chris Maguire and Lynden Gooch lead the scoring charts for the Black Cats, with four and three goals respectively coming from the attacking midfield positions (WhoScored).
There have only been two goals scored by strikers this season with Charlie Wyke getting one and Marc McNulty – the man replacing Wyke up front – grabbing the other.
Standing at around 6’2”, Wyke offers an alternative style of playing to McNulty due to the difference in height and physicality.
In Wyke’s four appearances, he averages a massive six aerial duels won per game – 5.2 more on average than McNulty – representing how useful he can be for flick-ons, holding the ball up and crosses. Alternatively, though, McNulty’s stats appear better with the ball on the deck, with the player having a much better average pass percentage of 76.2 per cent than Wyke’s dismal 57.3 per cent.
Wyke also averages more shots per game with 2.3 to McNulty’s 1.6 – showing that they’re going to be gaining someone back who is very comfortable having a shot on goal.
Charlie Wyke’s return is only bound to give Sunderland more of an attacking threat going forward. Whether or not he will be in contention to start versus Rotherham is uncertain, but whether he comes on or plays from the beginning, he adds a threat which this Sunderland side doesn’t normally have.
It’s been a decent start for Sunderland so far – but they currently have the lowest amount of goals scored for a side in the top six, so they will be looking for more goals. Wyke will only help them with that.
