Former Southampton and West Ham striker hails Sunderland star as 'the real deal' after Portsmouth win

Sunderland have produced some memorable strike partnerships throughout the year - and another eye-catching forward duo has continued to show signs of genuine promise in recent weeks.

In what initially felt like an unlikely pairing of on-loan French forward Wilson Isidor and promising young Spaniard Eliezer Mayenda, Regis Le Bris appears to have found the makings of a potent strike force that continues to fuel his side’s push for promotion into the Premier League. Both players found the net in last week’s hard-earned 2-1 home victory against promotion rivals Sheffield United and Isidor grabbed the only goal of Sunday’s narrow win against struggling Portsmouth.

Both Isidor and Mayenda put in lively performances against John Mousinho’s men and helped their side to a win that has taken them to within two points of the automatic promotion places. After performing co-commentary duties on Sky Sports’ coverage of the game, former West Ham United and Southampton striker Iain Dowie singled out Isidor for special praise after his match-winning display and gave a positive reaction to Mayenda’s own performance.

He explained: “I liked him (Isidor) and I’d probably say he’s as good a player as there was on the pitch. Isidor’s finish was top draw and even the one he took when he was slightly offside was brilliant. He gave them something different and him and Mayenda have got a little partnership. Mayenda just needs to get a little more experience going forward. He did lots of good stuff but he’s raw and I am sure Regis Le Bris will know there is more to come from both of them - but I think Isidor is the real deal.”

Despite conceding Sunderland fully deserved to collect all three points and preserve their unbeaten record at the Stadium of Light, Dowie felt the Black Cats lacked fluency in the second-half and stressed Portsmouth, who now lie just outside of the relegation zone, can take some positives from their visit to Wearside.

He said: “Overall, definitely Sunderland deserved to win but I thought they got a bit edgy. I didn’t think they were anywhere near their fluid best. There was a much better fluency to the first-half than there was in the second-half from Sunderland. Pompey have come away with a very good away performance and even with ten men they put up a decent show.”

Sunderland now have a free midweek to prepare for next Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie at Championship rivals Stoke City.