Sunderland defender Tom Flanagan has expressed his relief at finally scoring his first goal for the club during their 4-2 win against Gillingham last night. 

Flanagan scored the second of the evening as the Black Cats narrowed the gap on the automatic promotion places and heaped more misery on the relegation-threatened Gills.

"Good home win and nice to get off the mark better late then never," he wrote on Instagram along with a photograph of his header.

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The 27-year-old made the move to the Stadium of Light from Burton Albion back in the summer and has made 21 appearances across the back four this season.

Lee Cattermole and Flanagan both scored within the opening ten minutes either side of Tom Eaves' equaliser to give the Black Cats an early 2-1 lead.

Brandon Hanlan made it 2-2 just before the break but penalties from Will Grigg and Aiden McGeady made sure Sunderland picked up a crucial three points.

They now sit just two points behind second-placed Barnsley and with a game in hand over the Tykes in the race for automatic promotion.

The verdict 

This was such a big win for Sunderland.

A host of draws in the lead up had fans sweating that their bid for automatic promotion could be about to fall apart but this was the dominant display everybody wanted to see.

You have to fancy them to build some real momentum now.