Can Charlie Wyke inspire Sunderland to victory over Tranmere in the Papa John’s Trophy Final?

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Charlie Wyke has been in fine form this season and will have his and Sunderland’s eyes firmly set on the EFL Trophy as they face a trip to Wembley to take on Tranmere Rovers in the Final.

The Black Cats sit in a respectable fourth place in League One, pushing for automatic promotion back to the Championship, and are a division above Tranmere who sit fifth in League Two after being relegated last season to the lowest division in the EFL.

However, at Wembley anything can happen in a Final so the Superwhites will be more than up for it and feel they have exactly what it takes to stop Sunderland and their main man up top Charlie Wyke.

Wyke has five goals and one assist in six games in the competition this season and will certainly be looking to add to that at Wembley.

His excellent goal scoring record in League One for Sunderland this year has bolstered their automatic promotion chances massively, with 21 goals and two assists in 31 games, leaving manager Lee Johnson no choice but to name him on the team sheet every week. A pairing with Aidan McGeady in attack might just make them the two best players on form in the league right now.

It will be no easy feat though for Sunderland as Tranmere are pushing for their way back to League One and impressed in the Semi-Final of this competition against an in-form Oxford side beating them 2-0 and will come full of confidence, not just there to make the numbers.

However, it has been a season of change at Tranmere with Micky Mellon departing for the East of Scotland to take on the Dundee United managerial role, leaving the club 18th after ten games in the league after Mellon’s assistant Mike Jackson took over.

Keith Hill has since come in and changed their season with the Rovers sitting just five points off leaders Cheltenham and do have games in hand. They have managed a staggering 12 wins in 2021 in all competitions and among the top four tiers in England, only Manchester City have won more this calendar year.

Sunderland have only ever appeared in this tournament Final once before in 2019 where they lost out 5-4 on penalties to Portsmouth after a 2-2 draw and have not won at Wembley in their last seven attempts (two draws and five losses). Tranmere though have not appeared in the Final of this competition since 1991 losing out 3-2 to Birmingham City yet won it the year before with a 2-1 victory over Bristol Rovers.

Team News

Dion Sanderson and Carl Winchester are unavailable through being cup-tied and Jordan Jones who scored in the win over Portsmouth midweek faces a late fitness test and suffering a hamstring injury in that game however Lee Johnson may want to leave the winger out considering his recent form and not risk further injury.

Tranmere have mainly used fringe players throughout this competition however the loss of James Vaughan is a massive blow for them having scored a whopping 18 goals in League Two with only Paul Mullen of Cambridge scoring more in the division.

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