It’s not that long since Dion Sanderson was looking a class apart at Championship level, earning plenty of praise for his performances at promotion-chasing Cardiff City.
So it should be no surprise the Wolverhampton Wanderers loanee is already looking the part a division below.
Sunderland pulled off a coup when they landed the athletic 20-year-old defender on a short-term deal on the final day of the transfer window.
And while Sanderson’s Black Cats debut didn’t quite go to plan last night, with Phil Parkinson’s side dropping two valuable points in a topsy-turvy draw with Rochdale, a brick wall of a performance suggests he should represent an immediate upgrade on what went before.
Luke O’Nien did an admirable job in an unfamiliar right-back role but Sunderland’s Mr Versatile is at his best in the middle of the park.
29-year-old Conor McLaughlin hasn’t exactly set the world alight on Wearside either. The fact Sanderson is equally comfortable in a back three bodes well.
“Dion will get better and better,” Parkinson told the Chronicle. “He will get fitter, but it was a good debut.”
So while the result was far from satisfactory, especially with Saturday’s oh-so familiar capitulation at home to Portsmouth still fresh in the memory, one of the most inspired signings made by any League One club this year at least gives Sunderland fans something to feel positive about.
Here’s what some of them had to say about Sanderson’s performance:
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
