Lee hails Wyke as Cats’ search for attacking targets continue
Lee Johnson says he sees a bright future for Charlie Wyke after the striker proved to be Sunderland's matchwinner again on Saturday afternoon.
Wyke's fine early header at the Stadium of Light proved to be the crucial moment for the Black Cats, and extended his goalscoring tally to fourteen from 26 appearances across all competitions this season.
Johnson has made working on Wyke's confidence a key priority, and believes Sunderland are beginning to see the benefits.
“I've enjoyed working with him to be honest with you,"Johnson said.
"He's a good lad, a good professional, I think he does at times as you've seen suffer from confidence issues but it shouldn't be like that.
“If you are consistent in your approach and believe in the process, you'll be OK.
"That’s what I am trying to do to help him, educate him, nurture him, even at 27, into being consistent.
“He is training consistently, the body is consistent, there’s a lot of Charlie Wyke that is consistent.
"I only see a bright future for Charlie here.
“It‘s not easy [to score fourteen], and he has to keep going, keep getting the chances," he added.
“He could have had six at Wimbledon, he got three, previously he might have focused on the three misses, now we focus on the positives of the hat-trick.
“Now he is starting to focus on the ones he scores.
"Even today you see that one where he shuts down the keeper.
"I don't mind if he misses the chances, it's about getting them.
"He presses hard, he's got a good understanding, he's tactically bright.
"I wouldn't want to play against him when he's in sync."
Wyke has established himself as Sunderland's first-choice striker as Will Grigg recovers from a knee injury, and a recent move to a 4-2-2-2 system has given Aiden O'Brien and Lynden Gooch the chance to play alongside him.
Johnson is still hoping to add another attacking player to compliment Wyke before the January window shuts.
“We need to improve in every area, but if you are talking transfers, we are looking for players with those attributes for the final third," he said.
“It’s not necessarily a set player to plug a gap.
"We want every club in the bag, in terms of a golfing analogy, that’s a good way to describe it."
Speaking earlier this week, Johnson outlined how the capacity to stretch the opposition defences was key.
"We've found some good pace and power in Jack Diamond but we're always looking to stretch opponents as much as possible, so we're always looking for that willing running," Johnson told said.
"It's not always about being lightning quick, you've just got to be willing to run your absolute maximum a lot, and to be able to repeatedly sprint and recover.
"That's something we could look to add, but it's not easy by the way.
"That's the prized asset, what people want and what you have to pay the money for.
"But we are looking for a slightly different profile higher up the pitch."