Sunderland's summer transfer activity has added a 'freshness' to the Black Cats, according to to former West Ham and England striker Dean Ashton. There was much talk in the summer as the Wearsiders swooped for several young players as the window closed.
Jewison Bennette, Amad Diallo, Abdoullah Ba and Edouard Michut were all added to the Sunderland ranks late in the window, but the club is already seeing some pay back on their investment. Bennette capped his debut with the equalising goal in Saturday's 2-2 draw at Watford, with the rest of the Championship now beginning to take notice of Tony Mowbray's side.
That they picked up a point at Vicarage Road and an impressive 3-0 win at Reading a few days earlier without strikers Ross Stewart and Eillis Simms makes the results all the more remarkable. And speaking on ITV's EFL highlights progamme, Ashton said there was a fluidity about the way Sunderland played.
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"With the way that Watford set up, their centre-backs didn't really know who to mark," he said. "There was a real fluidity about Sunderland's play.
"They brought on Diallo, Bennette gets his goal, so they're bringing on young, talented players that are going to change things. I thought there was a freshness about their performance."
Fellow pundit Sam Parkin echoed Ashton's comments, adding that Sunderland had pulled off some smart business in the transfer window.
"For all the hullabaloo over Alex Neil leaving, there was a lot of talk about recuitment," Parkin said. "On this evidence they've done some really smart business. Some guys that we maybe weren't too aware of have come in and had a great affect.
"What they did at Waford, especially in the second half, without Ellis Simms and Ross Stewart, is some going. They're going to need those two back, of course, but it was a good second-half display and they deserved a point."
After successive away games, Sunderland return to action following the international break with home games with Preston on Saturday, October 1 and Blackpool on Tuesday, October 4.
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