Sunderland recorded their biggest win of the season as they thrashed Cheltenham Town 5-0 at the Stadium of Light on Tuesday – and fans were quick to praise one player in particular on social media – Bangor-born Nathan Broadhead.
The Everton loanee opened his account for the North East club last week in the EFL Cup win against Wigan Athletic and was handed his first league start by Lee Johnson on Tuesday night.
Broadhead did not disappoint on an evening that saw Sunderland produce arguably their best display of the season so far.
Starting on the left of the attacking midfield three in a 4-2-3-1 Broadhead’s movement proved a real nuisance for the Cheltenham defence, creating space for his teammates time and time again, while he was involved in many of the goal scoring moves.
The 23-year-old did everything but score a goal himself and though he was forced off with an injury late on, he has made himself popular with the Sunderland supporters.
Broadhead was withdrawn in the latter stages of Tuesday’s win– with manager Lee Johnson now facing an anxious wait on the scale of the injury the forward sustained.
Lee Johnson said: “The good news is that Nathan has felt better having slept on it, and he will have a scan before the Portsmouth game.
“He was really frustrated having to come off after playing so well on the night – he performed magnificently.
“The reality of the issue is that it could be anywhere between two and six weeks if there is muscle damage.
“He’s definitely feeling better which is really good news.
“He was really upset last night in terms of, he knew he’d play well and was just frustrated that it had happened.
“You couldn’t help but feel for him because he was magnificent in how he want about his game.
“We’ve just got to wait and see. The reality is he’s probably going to be out for two to three weeks, and possibly four to six.
“But we will have to wait and see what the scan says, I honestly don’t know for sure at this stage.
“He’s made that initial impression with us and he’s then taken the chance to make an impression in front of our supporters as well.
“I’m really happy with his progress and I really like him as a player, so I’m disappointed for him but it is part and parcel of football.”
