Sunderland booked their place in the fourth round of the League Cup last night as they secured an impressive 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic.

Black Cats manager Lee Johnson decided to make a host of changes to his squad for this particular fixture as the likes of Niall Huggins, Nathan Broadhead and Leon Dajaku were all given the opportunity to impress.

Broadhead, who is currently on loan at Sunderland, netted his first goal for the club in the first-half of this clash before Luke O'Nien doubled his side's advantage following the break.

Sunderland will discover who they will be playing in the next round of the competition this evening when the draw is made.

With the dust having now settled from this clash, here are THREE things we clearly learnt about the Black Cats after their latest triumph.

Broadhead could help Sunderland reach new heights in the third-tier this season

One of Sunderland's stand-out performers yesterday, Broadhead delivered an incredibly promising performance against Wigan.

As well as netting his first goal for the Black Cats, the forward provided two key passes for his team-mates as he recorded a WhoScored match rating of 7.92.

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If Broadhead is able to deliver the goods on a consistent basis in League One, he could potentially help Sunderland reach new heights at this level in the coming months.

Pritchard has provided Johnson with a selection dilemma this weekend

Whilst Aiden McGeady and Elliot Embleton are both likely to start against Bolton Wanderers this weekend, Alex Pritchard has provided Johnson with a selection dilemma ahead of this clash.

 

 

The midfielder managed to produce four key passes in yesterday's clash whilst he also completed three successful dribbles (as per WhoScored) as he terrorised Wigan's defence.

Although Pritchard is more suited to a central role in attacking midfield, he could be used on the right if Johnson is looking to include him in his starting eleven on Saturday as he is more than capable of operating in this particular role.

Sunderland's away form could play a defining role in their promotion push

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Whereas Sunderland have won all of their home league games this season, they have only picked up four points on their travels this season.

Whilst this is still a relatively respectable haul, the Black Cats know that they will need to improve their consistency if they are to launch a push for promotion.

By using the momentum that they gained yesterday from their victory over League One rivals Wigan to their advantage, Sunderland could potentially secure positive results in their upcoming away matches.