EVEN the greatest of footballing careers have the occasional difficult spell. On Sunday evening, Dan Neil was crowned North-East Football Writers’ Association Young Player of the Year, in recognition of a stellar 12 months that have seen him force his way into Sunderland’s first team, make his debut for England Under-20s and attract the attention of clubs in the Premier League. The day before he received the award, however, he was an unused substitute at Charlton Athletic.

Having started all bar three of the opening 33 matches of Sunderland’s season, Neil has been on the bench for all of the Black Cats’ last three games, and could well find himself back amongst the replacements when Fleetwood Town visit the Stadium of Light tomorrow.

It is not that Alex Neil does not rate his namesake; it is just that Sunderland’s new head coach looked at the 20-year-old last month and saw a player mentally and physically burned out. The pair discussed the situation, and while Neil, the midfielder, did not want to miss any matches, he accepted Neil, the manager’s, view. A fortnight on, however, and he is itching to make a first-team return.

“I want to play every game, and I pretty much did that until the end of January,” said the Wearsider. “The gaffer came in and just said that he felt I was fatigued, mentally more than physically to be honest, because of all these ups and downs and the rollercoaster that we’ve been on.

“We just had a chat and he said, 'Listen, I'm going to take you out for a few games, relax and get yourself back to the way you are because we want you firing at the end of the season'. That’s the way I’ve tried to look at it as well.

“Obviously, I don’t want it to be too long, but at the same time, we’ve got some good players in the team. Jay Matete has done really well, Luke O’Nien is coming back, Corry (Evans) is playing well. It’s not just going to be an easy walk back into the team. I’m going to have to earn it, and hopefully I can be firing again when the crunch time this season comes.”

While the last few weeks might have been difficult, Neil’s speech when he received Sunday evening’s award still gave him the opportunity to reflect on what has been a remarkable rise in the last year or so.

Last season, the youngster’s League One involvement was restricted to two brief substitute appearances, but Lee Johnson gave him his head at the start of the current campaign, and Neil responded with a series of eye-catching displays.

“I’ve loved every minute of it, playing for my boyhood club, and I just want to make 2022 even better to be honest,” said the midfielder, who was a Sunderland season-ticket holder while making his way through the club’s academy ranks. “I hadn't really experienced any of the highs or lows of football and to be honest, I think I probably experienced just about all of it over the last year.

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“I think I'm better equipped to deal with it all now than I was a year ago, but having said that, I know that I've still got a lot to learn and a lot to experience. And obviously, what I really want to experience is that promotion at the end of this season. I signed that long-term deal because I believe in the club, and I want to get it back to where it be.”

A win tomorrow evening would help with that process, with Sunderland currently sitting a place and a point outside the play-off positions.

Alex Pritchard is expected to miss tomorrow’s game after injuring his ankle in Saturday’s goalless draw at the Valley, and it remains to be seen how much involvement the midfielder will be able to have in the remainder of the season.

Neil will also have to decide whether Arbenit Xhemajli and Nathan Broadhead are capable of playing two matches in the space of four days.

Sunderland (probable, 3-4-3): Patterson; Winchester, Wright, Xhemajli; Gooch, Matete, Evans, Cirkin; Broadhead, Stewart, Embleton.