DAN Neil has told of the delight in the Sunderland dressing room after Nazariy Rusyn finally brought the wait for a goal from a striker to an end.

Rusyn's strike against Preston North End on New Year's Day was the first time any of Sunderland's four strikers have found the net this season.

In defence of the frontmen, Rusyn, who can't yet speak the language, has understandably needed time to settle after his move from Ukraine, Hemir and Eliezer Mayenda are both inexperienced and untested at this level and Mason Burstow arrived carrying the weight of expectation having impressed at Chelsea.

But the struggles of the strikers has been a problem for the Black Cats and Tony Mowbray, Mike Dodds and Michael Beale all tried different things to get the frontline firing.

Beale played with a makeshift striker in his first three games in charge before handing Rusyn his opportunity against North End, and the 25-year-old is now almost certain to keep his place in the team for Saturday's Wear-Tyne derby against Newcastle United in the FA Cup.

"I'm absolutely over the moon for Naz," said midfielder Neil.

"We all as a squad really wanted a striker to get off the mark and he's done that."

Sunderland prepare to welcome the Magpies to the Stadium of Light on the back of a three-match unbeaten run, and although one of those games was a frustrating draw at Championship bottom club Rotherham, the Black Cats responded impressively to the heavy home defeat to Coventry in Beale's first game in charge.

"It's obviously a tough period on the legs but also mentally as well, trying to get yourself right for a game just two days after the last game," said Neil.

"But the festive period has always been like this and we're always prepared for it to be tough. The effort and the togetherness the lads have shown over the last four games has been absolutely unbelievable and to come away from the last three games with seven points is a really good reaction to the Coventry loss.

"We stuck together and we've got through this period."

READ MORE:

Sunderland have also been boosted by the return of Aji Alese, a timely re-addition to the squad after Niall Huggins' season-ending injury.

Alese suffered a thigh injury back in March and then aggravated the issue when he rushed back for the Championship play-off semi-final second leg against Luton to try and ease a defensive crisis.

He made his first appearance of the season against Preston, playing 70 minutes before being replaced after suffering with cramp.

Beale said: "That's a huge positive. Not having (Aji) and Dennis (Cirkin), especially since we lost Niall, has meant Trai (Hume) has had to play out of position.

"It was nice to get [Hume] back in his position and that allowed (Alex) Pritchard to go inside and play close to Jobe (Bellingham), so that's a sign of things to come, hopefully. Aji came off with a bit of cramp but now we're going into a schedule where we have two games in 14 days and that will really help people like Aji.

"He is a really, really, big player for us. He's a calming influence on the back four as well with his personality, and he also makes good decisions.

"For his first appearance of the season, I thought he was excellent."

"It's just important to have him back because he is such a calming influence on the back four. He makes good decisions, which for a defender is really important.

"He is athletic and it's not easy to find player with that profile who is left-footed, so he gives us fantastic balance. We need to get a good week [of training] into him so his physical condition is improved, because I think he had played one 45 minutes in a B team game which was nowhere near the level of the Preston game."