Alex Neil says Sunderland's success using a back three at times last season has given him 'food for thought' as the Black Cats head into the Championship. Neil tends to prefer playing with a back four, but on occasions during the run to the play-offs and promotion he opted to switch to a back three in certain games for better balance.
And the move invariably worked, meaning Neil is open to using that system at times in the coming season. "A four for me is more natural in terms of how my teams have generally played," he said.
"However, certainly going to a back three, although I wouldn't say it was forced on us, gave us a better balance at times. What it has given me is a bit of food for thought.
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"It's certainly not something I would discount now, it's something I could definitely turn to."
Neil says he considered switching to 3-5-2 in the closing stages of Sunderland's 2-0 friendly win at Dundee United yesterday, although ultimately he decided against it. He has held out the possibility of using the system in one of Sunderland's three remaining friendlies just to test it out.
But one thing he is conscious of is that the 3-5-2 system requires two centre-forwards - and, as things stand, Ross Stewart is the only specialist he can call upon in that position, albeit Sunderland are working to bring in cover and competition for the Scotland international. Neil said: "I was actually tempted to go to a 3-5-2 at the end there [at Dundee United] just to sample it out, so there may well be one game between now and the start of the season where we try that out.
"But, unfortunately, at the moment we are a little bit short of striking options, because for that to work you need two centre-forwards. Hopefully that will get resolved over the next little bit and we can try that out."
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