‘Bedding-in’ a boost for new boy Lynch
JACK Ross believes Joel Lynch benefited from a bedding-in period at Sunderland, and now he hopes a short pause for breath can work to the whole squad’s advantage.
Central defender Lynch and leftback Laurens De Bock made their Black Cats debuts in the League Cup win at Sheffield United, where they kept their first clean sheet of the season. Both followed it up by starting in the League One victory over Milton Keynes Dons.
The pair’s involvement was delayed because they were short of match fitness when they signed on deadline day at the start of the month, having done most of their summer training alone.
“I think he’s a good type to have around, he gets on with us work,” manager Ross said of Lynch.
“It maybe helped him having this little period where he is playing catch-up with fitness, I think he’s adjusted to how we work and the club.
“He’s settled in and every day I’ve noticed that he’s become more and more comfortable in the surroundings. I think that’s then reflected in the performances.
“It maybe wasn’t a bad thing when he had that forced bedding-in period to get his fitness.” As well as allowing Jordan Willis to move over to his best position on the right of central defence, leftfooter Lynch bought extra assurance to the defensive unit with his calm performance. To concede a second-half goal on Saturday made the 2-1 scoreline look less flattering than it ought to have and left the Black Cats as the only side yet to keep a clean sheet in this season’s League One. Lynch was released by Queens Park Rangers in the summer. He spent the first week of pre-season on trial with Sheffield United but after coming away to pursue a move which did not transpire, he was left to train on his own until moving to Wearside.
Written off by Leeds United, De Bock trained in Belgium rather than Yorkshire, and saw a move to Greece fall through. Sunderland have signed him on loan until the end of the season.
The Black Cats have a spare midweek to prepare for Saturday’s trip to Lincoln City.
“We’ll have a little bit of a rest and then back to it this week,” Ross commented. “We’ve not had many (free midweeks) this season and we’ve not got many in October, so we’ve got to make the most of it when they come along. I think everybody enjoys it when they come along.”
Ross has always said no one should draw conclusions on the league table until 10 games in and, although the early-season disruption around Bury and Bolton Wanderers means not every team has, the Black Cats have reached that point. Ross feels his side’s “good start” has given them a platform to push for promotion.
“It’s tight in terms of that top six, seven, eight, teams,” he reflected.
“We’ve kept ourselves among it – we keep saying about room for improvement and do we feel we’ll get better, yeah we do.
“It’s been a good start for us, with the cup games. it’s one defeat in 13.
“It’s all right, it gives us a platform to build on, but we’ve got to keep striving to improve.”