Two home wins, two unconvincing performances, two games which turned on savvy changes. Sunderland's victories against struggling Fleetwood Town last Tuesday and then against basement side Crewe Alexandra at the weekend shared much in common.
But the two games engendered two very different reactions from Alex Neil. Of his side's peformance against Fleetwood, Sunderland's head coach was highly critical; of the display against Crewe, he was far more forgiving.
After the Fleetwood game, Neil said Sunderland had fallen 'well short' of the standards they expect, and that it felt like it was 'back to the drawing board' for him after a couple of positive performances in the preceding games. It took two half-time substitutions and a change of shape to cure Sunderland's malaise in that game, and inspire them to come from behind to win 3-1.
