Versatile Sunderland matchwinner Carl Winchester earns praise of Lee Johnson

Posted Sunday, August 22, 2021 by PA

Sunderland head coach Lee Johnson was full of praise for Carl Winchester after the makeshift right-back’s second-half strike secured a 1-0 win over AFC Wimbledon.

Winchester’s deflected long-range drive ensured the Black Cats got back to winning ways in League One after Tuesday’s defeat to Burton.

The Northern Irishman joined Sunderland as a central midfielder when he moved from Forest Green in January, but he has found himself playing as a right-back this season.

Niall Huggins, who moved to the Stadium of Light from Leeds on Friday evening, can play in either full-back position, but Johnson will be in no rush to change Winchester’s role.

The Sunderland boss said: “I thought Carl was outstanding from start to finish. I think the crowd have been enjoying his performances and are seeing the reason why we brought a quality player in.

“He’s trusted. He’s trusted in midfield, he’s trusted as a 10 and he’s trusted at right-back. I could even play him at centre-half if I needed to, he’s just such a good footballer.

“He just loves playing here. It’s the biggest club he’s been at by a long way, probably the biggest crowd he’s ever scored in front of today. I think that means a lot, particularly when you’ve got a guy who’s 28 and really should have played higher earlier on in his career.”

Johnson was also delighted with the performance of Anthony Patterson, with the 21-year-old goalkeeper only thrust into the starting line-up after Lee Burge suffered an injury in the warm-up.

Johnson said: “I thought Patto did well. I thought his positioning was good. In the first half, he came and grabbed a couple of crosses and his distribution was excellent as well. But, of course, the players in front of him had to protect him.

“We had a little bit of adversity to get over in the warm-up when Burgey was out, but I felt very comfortable with Patto, and I think he’s proved us all right again with that performance. He was steady, calm, composed and quite mature I’d say given his age.”

Dons boss Mark Robinson was satisfied with his players’ effort on Wearside, but admitted they did not carry enough of a goalscoring threat in the final third.

Robinson said: “We were looking forward to coming up here to see where we are as a side. When we reflect, we can see that we’re not where we need to be.

“There were some good signs, but not enough of them. We wanted to come and really take the game to Sunderland, but if I’m honest, we didn’t do that.

“It’s very easy to say it was a deflected goal, but that’s just covering up cracks. They had more than enough opportunities to go in front, and did we do enough? Probably not.

“But we’re a very young squad and coming to places like this is where we reflect and learn, and we’ll come back stronger and better.”