Everton striker aiming for the Championship could still fire his way into Frank Lampard's plans

Having hit the net just five times in their last nine Premier League matches it’s clear that goals have been a problem for Everton in their relegation battle. But one Blues player out on loan has been firing his team closer to where his parent club don’t want to be – The Championship. Since returning from a hamstring injury that had kept him sidelined for 16 of their previous 17 matches since late December, Nathan Broadhead’s return to fitness has given a late boost to Sunderland’s promotion push.

While Dominic Calvert-Lewin has failed to score in 11 outings in all competitions since return from a quadriceps injury in January that had kept him out for four months and Richarlison’s deflected stoppage time equaliser against Leicester City was his first Premier League goal from open play under Frank Lampard, four goals from Broadhead in the six games since he came back into the side, a sequence that includes last-minute winners over both Gillingham and Shrewsbury Town plus a brace in a 5-1 romp at home to Cambridge United, have put the Black Cats back into the play-off picture.

Sunderland travel to Morecambe on Saturday in fifth place (the third of four play-off spots) on 81 points, a point more than Plymouth Argyle who host third-placed MK Dons and Wycombe Wanderers who go to Burton Albion.

Although 19 th -placed Morecambe go into the game a couple of spots clear of the drop zone, they’re certainly not in a position to put the flip-flops on given they could still be relegated so Broadhead and his team-mates can expect a competitive game. The Shrimps’ neighbours Fleetwood Town, who are a couple of points below them, go to Bolton Wanderers while Gillingham, also on 40 points but in the drop zone by way of an inferior goal