ROMAINE Mundle’s match-winning display that created a little bit of history brought some welcome relief to Sunderland supporters against Burnley.

But fans might be surprised to hear than none other than Jack Clarke, the man he replaced on the left flank, is one of Mundle’s biggest fans.

The pair are “best friends” even though Clarke’s brilliance has kept the 21-year-old out of the side since arriving from Standard Liege in February.

But Clarke’s £15m-plus move to Ipswich Town opened the door for Mundle to fill the big void left behind on Wearside – and those boots remain a significant size to fill this season.      

Mundle, who was at Tottenham with Clarke during their younger days, made the perfect start.

Not only did his trickery and direct-running cause problems for the Clarets defence in a similar manner to how Clarke would have done, the former also struck the sweetest of winners in the 26th minute.

“Jack messaged me before the game,” said Mundle. “He said ‘you deserve this moment’.

“It was never a competition between me and Jack (to play down that side). I love Jack and I hope he does great things at Ipswich.

“He tells me to just keep doing what I am doing. He knows what I am capable of. He says keep shining, after all we have been friends since we were at Tottenham from when I was about 17.”

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Mundle decided to leave Tottenham last summer because he wanted to pursue greater first team opportunities. A short stint at Standard came to an end in February when he moved from Belgium to the Stadium of Light.

There have been flashes of what he can offer since his arrival, but Clarke’s performances made it harder for him to breakthrough. Those who saw the pre-season friendly at Bradford last month had seen a touch of what he offered against Burnley.

Mundle said: “I knew I would get the opportunity. I didn’t know when but I knew it would come.

“It is down to myself to bring the best out of me. I should have scored more than one, I’m working on that!”

As well as cutting inside his man and drilling low inside the far corner of James Trafford’s net, Mundle had already threatened.

After the restart he had a couple of chances too, including one cheeky 40-yard lob over Trafford that dropped wide, highlighting his confidence.  

He said: “I tried my luck with the lob. I would have walked off had that gone in. I said ‘sorry’ to the guys because it was audacious. If you don’t take risks, you don’t know what will happen.”

The challenge Mundle clearly faces is building on his impressive display against one of the most fancied teams in the division – one Sunderland restricted so that Anthony Patterson didn’t have a shot to save.

Head coach Regis Le Bris said: “The key is to have consistency, the ability to repeat, repeat and repeat again - that is the difference between top players and top teams.”

Sunderland had the better of the other chances in the game, despite only scoring once. Dennis Cirkin, again lively behind Mundle, tested Trafford, while Eliezer Mayenda, Patrick Roberts and Mundle found good positions.

Despite needing to improve the final touch at times, Sunderland impressed and made it nine points from the first nine available under le Bris; even though Dan Neil was red carded for a second caution with five minutes remaining.

In doing so Sunderland have won the first three league games in a season without conceding a goal for the first time in the club’s history – to sit top of the table at this early stage.

Le Bris, whose side travel to Portsmouth on Saturday, said: “That (record) is good. There’s no celebration because this performance is fragile.

“We know the difference between a loss and a win is small. To be top is good for the dynamic, the atmosphere and the confidence, but we know the steps have to be strong and we have to keep going.

“It was impressive to have the crowd (more than 40,000) behind us. I felt the energy. I knew this kind of atmosphere from when I was in France against certain clubs, but here the stadium is huge. I like this energy behind us.”

The last word should be about that man Mundle and how Sunderland will look to cope without Clarke long term. Le Bris isn’t concerned.

The former Lorient boss said: “This is the philosophy of the club. Some young players can have opportunities to play here, help the team to win, and after two or thee years they may have another opportunity to grow.

“I think all the people are happy with that. For the next one, when they leave, we will have the next opportunity like Romaine today after Jack. Romaine is very talented and we will help him on his next steps.”