Dan Neil is back to his best, as Sunderland boss hails the impact of his subs against Crewe

Dan Neil has returned refreshed and back to his best after being given a much-needed breather, according to Sunderland boss Alex Neil. Midfielder Neil was one of the group of young players that the head coach had said looked fatigued and jaded when he first took over last month, and after starting him in his first two games in charge he pulled him out of the team.

The 20-year-old has been used only sparingly from the bench in recent weeks, but today against basement side Crewe he made a big impact from the bench and scored the opening goal in Sunderland's 2-0 win at the Stadium of Light which kept them firmly in the hunt for a play-off place. Neil said: "I think Dan Neil showed me today exactly why people have been speaking so highly about him.

"Whereas, if I'm honest, I hadn't really seen that up to this point. He's naturally a really good player, but I thought he was excellent when he came on.

"His intent with his passing, his finish was great, he was looking forward - everything. Dan played the first two games when I came in, and then after that I think we all looked at him and thought 'this kid needs a rest and taking out of the firing line'.

"Four or five games down the line, we haven't lost a match since he came out of the team, but then people say 'why isn't Dan Neil playing?'. You have to earn the right to be in the team, first and foremost, but equally we needed to make sure we used him sparingly to protect him as much as anything else.

"Same goes for Callum Doyle. The situation hasn't changed overnight, what has happened is that he is refreshed and I thought he had a really good impact when he came on.

"That's the situation we wanted to get ourselves in four games ago, now we're there and that's not a