Neil full of praise for Black Cats front two

ALEX Neil hailed Sunderland’s front two as ‘unbelievable’ as debutant Ellis Simms scored twice and Ross Stewart netted the winner at Bristol City.

The Black Cats boss paired last season’s 26-goal top scorer Stewart with on-loan Everton man Simms for the first time at Ashton Gate, and Neil says the Robins’ back line was ‘run ragged’ by the duo.

Their goals saw Sunderland earn their first win since returning to the Championship, and maintained the club’s positive momentum in the early stages of the campaign. “I thought the two of them were unbelievable,” said Neil.

“They absolutely ran the back three ragged all day for me.

“Ellis Simms scores, Ross scores, Ellis should have got another one and they had opportunities and chances throughout the game as well.

“I thought the two of them were an absolute handful. They were brilliant, really, really good.

“I thought Ellis was really strong, everything that went up to him he held the ball up and linked the game for us.

“Equally he is a rare player in that when you are that big and that strong and you can link the game, normally that comes with a lack of mobility but he is quick – really quick – and strong, and he can finish as you saw today...sunderland are sort of built on Niall Quinn/kevin Phillips type thing, and they did really well with that kind of pairing, but I thought the two lads today were excellent.”

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