Johnson hails Sunderland’s dominant performance in cup victory

Lee Johnson said Sunderland’s impressive cup win at Wigan Athletic showed they are nowhere near reaching their peak as a side.

Both sides made extensive changes from their settled league XI, but it was the Black Cats who produced a dominant display at the DW Stadium.

Nathan Broadhead’s first goal for the club gave them a first-half lead, before Luke O’Nien secured a place in the fourth round with an excellent first-time finish in the second.

Johnson said his team’s second-half performance was ‘outstanding’ and said he was proud of the way a new-look side managed to play with such cohesion and fluidity.

“It was so good, I'm really happy,” Johnson said.

“It showed how hard these players have worked in training that we looked so fluid.

“I thought the second half performance was outstanding.

"We had total control, and I hardly felt we were in any danger.

“It's now really difficult for me to select the team, and that's what you want.

“You could see some of the players needed minutes, but I thought we had a really nice blend.”

Broadhead’s performance, alongside the likes of Alex Pritchard and Leon Dajaku on full debut, showed the depth Johnson now has at his disposal.

“We've seen that [quality finishing] in training and it's almost embarrassing that you can't get them on the pitch at times,” Johnson said.

“I wish we could bring back five subs because you feel almost uncomfortable not being able to get them on the pitch when they're doing so well.

“I thought tonight was a big game for us to keep that momentum going.

"When you concede in the last minute it can become a little big negative, but I thought we were really brave with the way we played, and I think the fans appreciated that.

“The thing is, we can only get better.

“We haven't peaked, nowhere near.

“It'll probably take until game 15 or 20 because we recruited late.

"What I think it has proven is that it is worth waiting for the quality, and of course that a good pre-season for the ones that were here, because they can carry the others at times.

“I'm really proud of those players tonight.”