https://www.sunderlandecho.com/spor...-explains-difficult-aiden-obrien-call-3381178
Johnson has made few changes through the course of the campaign to a side that sits top of the table, with only injury and the arrival of new signings leading to any substantive changes.
The Sunderland head coach will have to make at least one change at Fleetwood Town this Saturday, with Tom Flanagan suspended.
The Northern Ireland international has started every league game of the season alongside Callum Doyle.
That will open the door for either Bailey Wright or West Ham United loanee Frederik Alves, and Johnson says a training game at the Academy of Light last Friday underlined that no one can feel sure of their place.
"I genuinely don't look at it as our first XI," Johnson said. "If you'd had come into training on Friday and seen the two teams going against each other, you wouldn't have been sure which one was the starting XI for Saturday. "You've got Bailey Wright and Frederik Alves in defence, Corry Evans in midfield. Niall Huggins and Denver Hume, Alex Pritchard as your number ten, Aiden O'Brien and Leon Dajaku out wide with Nathan Broadhead up top. "That is a very strong side itself. "So for us it's just about building the performances from here." Johnson also insisted that Aiden O'Brien remains very much part of his plans, even if the prospect of the Irishman gaining significant league minutes looks remote in the immediate future.
Johnson has made few changes through the course of the campaign to a side that sits top of the table, with only injury and the arrival of new signings leading to any substantive changes.
The Sunderland head coach will have to make at least one change at Fleetwood Town this Saturday, with Tom Flanagan suspended.
The Northern Ireland international has started every league game of the season alongside Callum Doyle.
That will open the door for either Bailey Wright or West Ham United loanee Frederik Alves, and Johnson says a training game at the Academy of Light last Friday underlined that no one can feel sure of their place.
"I genuinely don't look at it as our first XI," Johnson said. "If you'd had come into training on Friday and seen the two teams going against each other, you wouldn't have been sure which one was the starting XI for Saturday. "You've got Bailey Wright and Frederik Alves in defence, Corry Evans in midfield. Niall Huggins and Denver Hume, Alex Pritchard as your number ten, Aiden O'Brien and Leon Dajaku out wide with Nathan Broadhead up top. "That is a very strong side itself. "So for us it's just about building the performances from here." Johnson also insisted that Aiden O'Brien remains very much part of his plans, even if the prospect of the Irishman gaining significant league minutes looks remote in the immediate future.
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