Fan blog: How do you solve a problem like Will Grigg and will this returning Sunderland star boost promotion hopes?

The striker, who was signed with the expectation of firing Sunderland out of League One, has had a torrid time.

So how has a striker with such a prolific career record struggled so much?

There are a number of factors that have contributed towards Grigg’s decline, with some of them not down to him.

Any striker requires service from his teammates and that is something that Grigg has not had.

Aiden McGeady, who was meant to be the creator in the Sunderland ranks, has had a mixed few months with performances flickering between brilliant and woeful on a regular basis.

Not helped by Chris Maguire not quite hitting his stride, and the injuries to Lynden Gooch and Duncan Watmore. With what little support Grigg has had to work with goals are unsurprisingly lacking.

Grigg has also struggled with some of the systems he has been playing in.

With the injuries to Charlie Wyke and Marc McNulty, often he has had to play as a lone attacker and has found it difficult to really threaten the opposition.

On certain occasions the long ball tactic has been applied, however this is almost not worth attempting as the forward’s limited height means he is never going to be able to win the aerial challenges in the same way that a Charlie Wyke would do.

This limits the striker’s chances of scoring and just heightens the pressure.

The final reason for Grigg’s struggles is the injury that he picked up at Wigan.

This has caused Grigg to face spells out over the last season and a half.

This is why the return of Wyke is crucial.

However the striker will still feel he should have done better with a return of 5 goals in 34 appearances, and while that is certainly true there have been many reasons for this.

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