Alim Ozturk endured a poor start to life as a Sunderland player prior to last weekend’s game against Oxford United.
Sunderland’s Alim Ozturk joined from Boluspor this summer, but struggled to impress the Black Cats faithful with shoddy displays in games against Charlton Athletic and Sheffield Wednesday.
However, with first-choice central defender Glenn Loovens currently out injured with a groin strain, the 25-year-old got his chance last weekend against Oxford United.
And Ozturk looked like a different player as Sunderland drew 1-1 with Karl Robinson’s side, as the Turkish defender looked to form a solid partnership with the in-form Jack Baldwin.
Sunderland manager Jack Ross backed the summer signing to make an upturn in form prior to the game last weekend in an interview with the Chronicle and Ozturk certainly proved his manager right on Saturday.
The 25-year-old was a calm head in the Sunderland defence when Ross’s side went down to 10 men, and Ozturk often found the pass to relieve the back four of pressure put on by the Oxford front-line.
Ozturk is a likely starter for Sunderland’s game against Stoke City under-21s in the Checkatrade Trophy and could even keep the injured Loovens out of the side if he continues with similar performances.
However, Ozturk will have to eradicate little mistakes that have lad to his side conceding goals in previous matches if he is to become a regular in defence this season, with the Black Cats hoping to gain promotion back to the Championship.
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