"I’m really worried" - Haji Wright fear raised as Sunderland AFC face Coventry City play-off clash | OneFootball

FLW's resident Sunderland fan pundit has earmarked Coventry's main threat.

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Sunderland AFC begin their play-off campaign on Friday night, when Coventry City visit the Stadium of Light for the first leg of their semi-final.

The Black Cats are bidding to return to the top flight for the first time since 2017, but will be wary of a Coventry side who have shown drastic improvements under Frank Lampard since he took over back in November.

Regis Le Bris’ men have endured a concerning run of form of late and are heading into the play-offs on the back of five consecutive league defeats.

Sunderland must do everything in their power to turn out a strong performance on Friday night, or they could be sitting ducks for an early exit from the post-season.

Sunderland must be wary of Haji Wright

With the form that Sunderland are in at present, it comes as little surprise that confidence has depleted among the fanbase ahead of their play-off campaign.

Despite enjoying a hugely promising season on the whole, Le Bris’ men are winless in their last six league outings, and have failed to find the net in five of those games.

With that in mind, their opponents must be feeling quietly optimistic ahead of their two-legged tie, considering that a poor run-in at the end of the season has proven to be difficult for teams to shake off on so many previous occasions.

Ahead of Friday night’s first leg, we spoke to FLW’s resident Black Cats fan pundit, Jack Austwicke, to find out who he fears most from among the Sky Blues’ ranks.

He said: “The easy thing to say would be Haji Wright. He’s scored four goals against us this season, and that includes a hat-trick at the CBS Arena when we got beaten 3-0 – that was our heaviest defeat of the season.

“He just loves scoring against us this season. I think another player who has looked really good, and did last season as well, is Tatsuhiro Sakamoto. I think he’s brilliant and could cause us a lot of problems on the flank.

“They’re the two players I’d pick out, but then they’ve still got players like Ben Sheaf and Josh Eccles who can run the midfield.

“I’m really worried, all over the pitch, they’ve got players who could hurt us. Although we’ve got talented players too.”

Sunderland must improve if they are to end Coventry hoodoo

If Sunderland are to progress to the showpiece Wembley final, they must put an end to what is a dismal head-to-head record against Coventry.

The Black Cats haven’t beaten the Midlands outfit in any of their last 10 league clashes, with their last victory over the Sky Blues coming way back in 2007.

This season, they have found Lampard’s men to be particularly tricky opponents. The two teams played out a 2-2 draw in the North East in November, before Sunderland were comprehensively beaten in the return fixture in March.

It’s been a largely positive season for Le Bris’ side, who have long since secured their spot in the play-offs, despite being the youngest squad in the division.

However, their recent form would suggest that the security of their position has worked against them in recent weeks.

As Austwicke alluded to, they will now face the tough test of a Coventry side who have plenty of ability all over the pitch.

If Lampard sets the team up as is expected, then the Sky Blues’ threat will predominantly come from the three men who operate behind central striker Josh Simms.

Wright, Sakamoto and Jack Rudoni have all enjoyed outstanding seasons and are firmly among the team’s primary creators.

If Sunderland can shut down that trio, it could provide them with the crucial edge.

However, confidence can be a powerful thing in the play-offs. We have seen time and again over the years, how teams who build momentum as part of a late push into the play-off spots can prove to be very difficult to stop, while those who have had their place confirmed for a long time can often falter.