IT was only a few years ago when Charlie Wyke feared his hopes of succeeding in professional football had developed into something of a nightmare.

Now, having flicked in his first goal for Sunderland since moving from Bradford City in the summer, Wyke feels like he is dreaming – and now he just wants to make sure that continues.

Wyke, a half-time substitute, had been on the pitch less than six minutes when he instinctively got just enough on a low drive from Lynden Gooch to turn it inside the far post to pull Sunderland level against Oxford United.

He was not even supposed to have been on the pitch at that stage, as Jack Ross’ plan was to throw him on in the later stages to help on the road to match fitness having arrived from Bradford with a knee injury last month.

But Ross was thankful to have him on the pitch on this occasion, and for Wyke the celebrations – as he ran towards North-East corner of the ground – illustrated exactly how satisfied and relieved he was to have started his Sunderland career with a bang.

To have found the net on his first appearance for Sunderland, in front of a crowd of 32,000, seemed a far cry from those days at Kettering when he went there from Middlesbrough fearing he would be looking at jobs outside of the game. And then again when his hometown club released him in the summer of 2013.

“Obviously I got released from Middlesbrough, which was frustrating, sad, and I didn’t think there was a future for me in football at the time,” said Wyke. “I went away, worked hard and started to work my way up the leagues.

“I went to Kettering when I was 18 and that was a real eye opener. I came back and the next thing I went to Hartlepool, that was the same because we were struggling in League One and we were relegated.

“I think when you do stuff like that it does help you. Hopefully there are no more relegations on the cards and I just want to focus on here and push on.

“This is obviously a huge club and hopefully we can get this club doing the same again, to get it back where it should be and push on.

“I have worked hard to get to a ground like this I can call home like this since those early days. There are times when I wondered if I would really make it as a professional footballer, when I was released, then Hartlepool …

“I just didn’t see myself really being able to get to play at stadiums like this. Now I am here, scoring, and hopefully I will keep my place and keep scoring.”

What would have made his debut sweeter is if his cheeky 52nd minute equaliser had turned out to be the winner instead. By that stage Oxford had already looked like they could stun the majority of the crowd inside the Stadium of Light, with the help of the referee Mark Heywood.

Oxford did start the brighter of the two sides. Goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin had already been made to make a flying save to his left to turn behind Ricky Holmes’ long range drive before the same U’s player put the visitors ahead in the 16th minute.

After Lee Cattermole had conceded a free-kick on the edge of his area, Holmes’ right-foot curler from the dead ball had just enough on it to force McLaughlin’s outstretched right hand to help into the top corner.

Three minutes later Sunderland’s day appeared to go from bad to worse. Max Power’s attempts to track Marcus Browne led to the former Wigan midfielder’s strong lunge from the side being deemed worthy of an instant red card.

Sunderland were faced with a situation where they had to come from behind with ten men and they initially struggled to pose enough of a threat to suggest they would achieve that. It was easy to see why Power had been dismissed, although Oxford boss Karl Robinson even thought it was harsh.

Robinson said: “I don’t think it was a red. I thought Bryan Oviedo should have gone, Shandon Baptiste should have been sent off for a second yellow and Chris Maguire, in fact the least sending off actually happened in my view. But it is a waste of time and money with our FA because there is no common sense within the disciplinary panel.”

Robinson also described Wyke’s equaliser as a miskick and a deflection, but Sunderland’s new No 9 certainly wasn’t having any of that. While admitting he is not one for stunners, he knows exactly what he is good at and why he has forged a reputation as one of the most prolific League One marksmen in recent years.

Wyke said: “It was a brilliant start for me, shame we didn’t get the win but we got the point and we are still unbeaten. I was desperate to get on the pitch and now I am looking forward to starting and hopefully getting more.

“I am not one for scoring many outside the box, I think I only have two in the last few years, so I will try to be alive in the box and I do like tap-ins. Thankfully I got on the end of this, a few questions got asked if I got a touch but I definitely did. There has been a bit of banter but it was definitely mine and hope it continues.”

Sunderland had fallen behind in three previous league games this season and they had gone on to win all of them. On this occasion, despite pressing and threatening to do so occasionally after Wyke’s equaliser, it was not to be.

Despite a spirited performance, particularly second half, Sunderland could never claim to have been at their best before or after the sending off in the opening period – and Ross will need more from his men if they want to stay in the top two reckoning.

“There were loads of different things we didn’t dwell on from the first half at half-time, that was the time to figure out how to get back in the game,” said Ross.

“I will look at myself as well in terms of how we set up because we allowed ourselves to go on the back foot. We conceded to a very good set piece but the sending off galvanised us a bit, gave us a spark and then the opening 25 minutes of the second half I thought we were good.

“It was testament to the desire and character to get something. It’s indicative of the character we have shown all season, different personnel and different contributions, and I think the supporters recognise that as well.

“We will not be satisfied with losing points here against anyone, we want to win every game. The players are disappointed with that.” And they will aim to put it right against Fleetwood this weekend.