Cats hero doubts Grigg will find shooting boots at Sunderland

SUNDERLAND goal hero Kevin Phillips doubts Will Grigg will ever find his scoring touch on Wearside.

The Black Cats paid Wigan £3m for the Northern Ireland international in January 2019, but he has so far struggled to perform in a red-andwhite shirt.

Grigg started Sunderland’s first game of the season on Saturday – the Carabao Cup first-round tie with Hull – but saw an effort ruled out following a foul on keeper Matt Ingram, and a second goal chalked off for a marginal offside.

But in a moment which summed up his time on Wearside so far, it was Grigg who missed from 12 yards as Sunderland lost the penalty shoot-out following the goalless draw, meaning the Black Cats are out of the Cup.

Grigg has looked sharp in pre-season, and team-mate Max Power insists that with better service, he could score 20 goals this term.

But Phillips, who scored 130 goals in 235 appearances for the Wearsiders, is not convinced.

“From the evidence of last season I do not think he can score 20 goals,” Phillips said in an interview with Football Insider. “I am not going to beat around the bush. When he first signed I thought he was going to be that player. I like him but I do not see enough of anything last year.

“There was not one thing that I saw him do well. No real work rate and at times it was like he was hiding. But when they start back there will be no crowd there and that might help him because it looked to me as if the crowd really affected him.

“I would like to think he can score 20 because you do not become a bad player overnight. Max Power is right, strikers are only as good as the service. I hope he proves me wrong.”

Black Cats boss Phil Parkinson was quick to praise Grigg following Saturday’s stalemate, and hopes his penalty miss doesn’t hang over him.

“Will deserved to start and I thought some of his runs were great,” Parkinson said. “He looks fitter than he has for a long time and he is getting into those dangerous areas. The penalty will hurt him because as a striker he prides himself in dealing with those pressure situations.

“But I don’t want it to knock him because he is in a lot better place than at any other time since he has been at the club.”