Elliott Dickman has lifted the lid on why he thought last Thursday’s Premier League Cup tie against Hull City was the right time to change his system.
Having drawn blanks in the previous two league matches – drawing at title-hopefuls Leicester City before falling to a home defeat against Swansea City – Dickman made the bold step to shake things up.
Switching to three central defenders, Denver Hume was given the freedom to roam forward and join in the Black Cats’ attack as he operated in a wing-back role on the left while Josh Robson filled the right berth.
Ethan Robson and Chris Allan provided more of a defensive shield in the middle of the park while Rees Greenwood and Elliot Embleton provided support for loan striker Andrew Nelson.
And it wasn’t long before Dickman’s decision paid dividends, with Nelson heading home on 38 minutes before Greenwood scored a second-half brace to see the lads run out 3-0 winners.
Speaking to safc.com, Dickman revealed why he decided the switch to a new formation.
“We have spoken about it for a while, but we were going to leave it until the new year,” he said.
“Unfortunately, we picked up an injury in training (leading up to the match) with Luke Moylneux so we needed to try something different.
“The personnel we had available meant we could play that way. The defending players – Tom Beadling, Brandon Taylor and Alex Storey – have been in good form so we thought why not try all three on the pitch at the same time?”
He continued: “We have worked really hard as a team; the togetherness is good, and it is something to build on.
“Against Hull we added some quality to the team, scored three goals and it was a massive plus for us but it is a credit to the whole team.”
