Sunderland travel to Ipswich today to face the team placed second in the Championship. We caught up with Owen Riches who chatted about how their season has gone, and how he thinks the game will pan out...
Ipswich are second in the league but winless in five, meaning the gap to Southampton in third has been reduced to just three points. Are you confident of promotion?
I don’t think anybody can be truly confident of promotion - certainly not in the Championship. There is no doubt that Ipswich have done fantastically well this season, but it is important to remember that even “just” making the playoffs would be a fantastic achievement for a club making the step up from playing the likes of Forest Green and Morecambe less than 12 months ago, and a great building block for future promotion pushes.
Injuries and suspensions have bitten us in the recent couple of games, and despite not picking up three points we actually played positively against Norwich and Leicester and generated good opportunities. The Leeds result was a ‘bad day at the office’, and against Stoke and QPR we have shown our lack of attacking squad depth with George Hirst’s injury meaning we’ve struggled to create chances.
Where did you expect to finish at the start of the season?
I was hoping for a top-half finish with the potential for a late push for the playoffs. Other Town fans were cautiously optimistic of a solid play-off finish, whereas others would have taken mid-table. It is so difficult to predict where a newly promoted team will finish. Rotherham finished six points above Sunderland in the 21/22 League One season, yet Sunderland finished 13 places above them last season! It’s always virtually impossible to say.
Who's been your best player?
Leif Davies. You can screenshot this article, print it out, and frame it as evidence of my claim here… but Leif Davies will play for England. He is a fantastic player, quietly racking up assists, whilst never neglecting his defensive duties.
Nathan Broadhead and Conor Chaplin are your joint-top scorers with eight each, what do you think of our former loan striker?
Broadhead has been critical – we certainly would not be where we are now if we didn’t sign him last season. Both Chaplin and Broadhead are due some goals after our tough Christmas run, so I would be inclined to suggest one of them will get on the scoresheet against Sunderland.
Just how good is coach Kieran McKenna? What kind of football does he like to play...
I stand by my opinion that McKenna is the best manager in the Championship. He is exceptional at getting the best out of players who are yet to reach their peak. Vaclav Hladky, for instance, had only played English football at Salford City until 2021. Two and a half years later, he is arguably the best performing goalkeeper in the Championship.
What are the side's strengths and weaknesses?
The main strength of Ipswich is undoubtedly the never-say-die attitude as a collective team. 2-0 down against Cardiff? Not a problem, we won 3-2. Concede two early goals against Premier League Wolves with our reserve team? No worries, we won 3-2.
Our weakness, which has really shown in recent games, is our lack of attacking squad depth. Fortunately, we’re in a position to rectify that with the transfer window now being open.
Which Sunderland player worries you the most?
Jobe Bellingham and Jack Clarke are both players who will be in the Premier League before too long and certainly have the potential to upset us Ipswich fans today. Alex Pritchard also looked quite good in the disappointing Newcastle game, and Luke O’Nein certainly has the ability to put a big tackle in!
From an outside perspective, what did you make of Sunderland replacing Tony Mowbray with Michael Beale?
I think it was very harsh on Tony – and I am struggling to see what Michael Beale will bring to the club that Tony Mowbray was unable to. After the previous couple of weeks, it is more than reasonable for any Sunderland fan to have doubts concerning the decision-making behind the scenes within the club, and I think the sacking of Tony will be another one that won’t be looked back with fond memories.
What's your score prediction and goal scorers?
2-1 Ipswich, with Luongo and Broadhead to score. Jack Clarke to get a late goal to half the deficit and cause a nervy finish to the game.
Where do you reckon both teams will finish this campaign? Will Ipswich be playing Premier League football next year??
Sunderland will finish around the upper realms of mid-table – a 9th or 10th placed finish. I think Ipswich will push for automatic promotion right until the end of the season, but there would be no shame in finishing in the playoffs.
