Portsmouth star Kusini Yengi makes ‘Quality’ Sunderland admission
Portsmouth star Kusini Yengi has reflected on his start to life in the Championship while praising Sunderland in the process.
The Black Cats have impressed the footballing world with their performances this season, sitting top of the Championship table heading into the November international break.
While Sunderland supporters often praise their team, it’s very seldom to see a rival player do the same although Yengi was full of praise for the Wearsiders in quotes reported by the Lancashire Post (13 November).
Speaking about the step up from League One to the Championship, Yengi said: “For me, honestly, I haven’t found much of a gap at all. I wasn’t really involved too much at the start of the season, but the games I’ve played so far I haven’t found much of a difference.
“The defenders are still a bit dirty off the ball and I don’t really get too many free-kicks in my favour. It’s a similar kind of thing, but it’s different from team to team.
“We played against Sunderland and I thought they had great quality in that game and it looked like it was a big jump from League One to the Championship.”
Sunderland are starting to get the respect they deserve
For a large part of the season, Sunderland were labelled as ‘nothing special’ by many supporters and even managers have given off a similar vibe. However, Yengi’s comments show the respect that opposition players have for the Black Cats and deservedly so.
When a team sits top of the Championship table in November, they are there on merit as opposed to luck and Sunderland have deserved everything they have received this season.
Regis Le Bris has transformed a youthful Black Cats side from looking like relegation candidates last season to potential title winners this campaign all while working with a very similar squad.
His pragmatic approach to different games has certainly seen his side profit more often than not although their current three-game winless run has thrown up a few concerns.
Ultimately, Sunderland’s ambitions at the start of the season are to achieve play-offs but with an excellent start, they have changed.
Le Bris highlighted 90 points as the target they had set for themselves as they continue their push for a Premier League return.
In other Sunderland news, James Copley believes Chris Rigg’s international withdrawal is not injury-related amid concerns over the midfielder.
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