Jordan Pickford swapped Sunderland for Everton during the summer, but the goalkeeper insisted that he still follows the Black Cats.
Pickford swapped the Stadium of Light for Goodison Park in the summer after being one of the few players to emerge from their relegation campaign with any credit. It is fair to say that without the 23-year-old, and Jermain Defoe, the Black Cats’ relegation from the top flight would have been confirmed a lot sooner.
They find themselves in a perilous position once again this season, with Chris Coleman’s side bottom of the Championship, four points off safety with 12 games to go. But Pickford seemed confident that the club will not suffer back-to-back relegations this term.
“There are 12 games left, a lot of points to play for and it is only four points the gap,” he told the Sunderland Echo. “We will be alright, we have done it before.”
The stopper also suggested that he immediately looks out for Sunderland’s result when the Toffees have played at the same time, and admitted that even after an Everton win, a poor result for the Black Cats has a big impact on his mood.
“After my game on a Saturday the first thing I look at on Sky Sports is to see how Sunderland have done,” he added. “Even if I have won and Sunderland get beat I am a bit down.”
While Pickford is confident that Sunderland will get themselves out of trouble, the majority of the supporters would be forgiven for being considerably less optimistic having not seen their side win any of their last six, losing four in the process.
What will give Coleman hope is the fact that there are arguably four teams outside the bottom three that will currently be concerned about their position, while Sheffield Wednesday in 17th are probably not safe either if they do not start picking up wins, so there looks set to be a number of twists ahead before the curtain comes down on the campaign.
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