Corry Evans believes Championship clubs will be 'frightened' of Sunderland's lethal strikepairing of Ross Stewart and Ellis Simms. The duo have already scored three goals apiece, with Stewart having started all six of the Black Cats' Championship games and on-loan Everton man Simms having begun five.
And they could have have added to their hauls at the weekend, with the woodwork denying both men in the second half of the 1-0 defeat at the hands of Norwich City at the Stadium of Light - a game which Sunderland entered into with no head coach in place, with Alex Neil's departure to take over at Stoke City later confirmed on Sunday evening. Experienced Northern Ireland international Evans made his 250th Championship appearance at the weekend and knows the division inside out, and he feels every club has good reason to be wary of Stewart and Simms.
"Any team is probably frightened of those two at the moment, with the form they are in," said Evans. "They can make a bad ball into a good ball, and they are a threat against anyone.
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"They will cause a lot of teams problems in this league."
Since winning promotion from League One via the play-offs last season, Sunderland have made a solid start to life back in the Championship after a four-year absence. They have collected eight points from their first six games, and could easily have collected at least a point against pre-season promotion favourites Norwich at the weekend, offering further proof that they are coping admirably with the transition from third tier to second.
Evans said: "We've proven that we have made the step up and we are capable of competing at this level. Performances like that one against Norwich prove it, and it gives us more confidence because we know the quality we have within the dressing room and the threat we carry - other teams will be looking at us as a really hard game, especially coming here."
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