Pierre Ekwah will return to Sunderland’s starting line-up over the Easter weekend after a series of conversations with interim head coach Mike Dodds regarding the midfielder’s recent form having found himself on the bench in the previous two Championship games.

Ekwah has started 29 of his 32 appearances for Sunderland this season in this his first full campaign in the Championship after arriving from West Ham United in January last year for an undisclosed fee. Such is the nature of Sunderland’s transfer policy, however, the 22-year-old midfielder has already established himself as one of the senior figures in the dressing room having amassed over 50 appearances for the club after his debut in last year’s FA Cup fourth round tie at Fulham.

The midfielder demonstrated his potential in the final games of last season, particularly the club’s play-off semi-final first leg against Luton Town at the Stadium of Light – instrumental in a 2-1 success. The former West Ham and Chelsea academy talent continued that into the early part of this season with another standout display in the 5-0 win over Southampton where he scored his first goals for the club before injury saw him miss a month of the campaign.

 

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And it was an injury Ekwah has struggled to overcome in terms of being able to rediscover his best form until recently when scoring twice in three games against Stoke City and Plymouth Argyle – two of just three wins for Sunderland this calendar year.

Ekwah was withdrawn by Dodds after an hour in the defeat to Leicester City earlier this month before finding himself on the bench for games with Southampton and Queens Park Rangers in what feels like something of a reality check with Ekwah, like Sunderland, perhaps a victim of his relative success last season.

And that is something interim head coach Dodds has contemplated when addressing Ekwah’s recent position in the squad, with Dodds favouring the likes of teenager Chris Rigg and Adil Aouchiche in the last two games.

“I’ve had a couple of conversations with Pierre over the last couple of weeks just around his general performance,” explained Dodds. “I think Pierre has got huge potential and he’s got a big future in the game, but I also feel there are certain things he needs to be better with.  

“I pride myself on working with young players, and improving young players, and I think sometimes with young players they need an honest conversation. Me and Pierre have had that.

“I liked some of the stuff he did when he came on [against Queens Park Rangers]. He trained really, really well and he’ll definitely feature in one of the two games over the Bank Holiday weekend. Pierre has got really high potential but at the moment he has to realise it’s just potential and we need to knit his game together a bit more.”

We Are Sunderland: Pierre Ekwah celebrates his goal against Plymouth Argyle at the Stadium of LightPierre Ekwah celebrates his goal against Plymouth Argyle at the Stadium of Light (Image: Ian Horrocks)

Knitting Ekwah’s game together will likely be key for Sunderland over the course of the next 12 months if they are to start ascending more towards the top end of the Championship as opposed to their current slide in the wrong direction.

But as with most in Sunderland’s squad, patience has been, and will continue to be required as a squad who recently became the youngest to ever compete in a Championship fixture continues to develop.

And that’s something which isn’t lost on Ekwah who recently detailed how he still has to take a step back from time-to-time to acknowledge how far he his journey has taken him over the course of the last 18-months when moving out of academy football with West Ham into senior football in the Championship with Sunderland.

 

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"I went from West Ham under-21s to the Championship and the play-offs in not even a year," he said after starring in the win over Plymouth last month.

"It's a pleasure to play for this club and play week in, week out. You can't really put it into words. Every game there are 40,000 people, I just find it crazy and so good.

“I'm definitely happy here. For my development, as a person and a footballer, it's the perfect place. Before I was the new kid on the block, now all of a sudden the coaches are telling me I need to say this and that and organise a little bit.

"I'm definitely enjoying that because that's what I used to do as an under-21s player at West Ham. Now I have that backing from the coaches and players as well to speak my mind."