Black Cats’ young players listen and learn says Neil
who took to the pitch in total at Sheffield United [in midweek], and I think five of them had played Championship football at any point in their career.
“The other 11, it was literally first appearance, second appearance, third appearance. For them to acclimatise themselves the way they have done and attack it, is great.
“For young players, there’s no fear of what is coming next. The good thing is that they listen to every word I say and they try to carry it out as best they can, so even sometimes when they don’t perform, it’s not solely their fault – I need to try to help them with that.”
Key midfielder Corry Evans missed the midweek game with a minor hamstring issue, but he was on the bench against Stoke and came on to replace Jay Matete at half-time as part of a double substitution
that also saw Bailey Wright replace Luke O’nien.
Neil explained: “We brought Jay in because Corry wasn’t ready to do 90 minutes. It was one of those ones where loading on Corry was going to be a problem, but bringing him on for 45 wasn’t really a concern for me. If I’d have started him, though, and he had got to 60 and said he was fine, then he’d done his hamstring then I’d have been kicking myself.” ● Wigan boss Leam Richardson praised Charlie Wyke’s character after the striker made a key contribution on his first appearance since suffering a cardiac arrest last year.
Former Sunderland forward Wyke was playing in his first competitive game since he collapsed in training on November 22.
And 12 minutes after coming off the bench, the 29-year-old set up fellow substitute Nathan Broadhead – another ex-black Cats forward – to score the only goal in 10-man Wigan’s 1-0 win at Birmingham.
Richardson said: “You know my thoughts on Charlie the person, never mind the footballer, and I know how hard he has worked from nine months ago to get back in training and get back on the pitch.
“There was never going to be anybody who could stop him. All I had to do was support him and give him that platform to do that. I thought his touch was fantastic.”