Sunderland boss Lee Johnson was thrilled to see Aiden O’Brien take the limelight after his hat-trick fired his side to a dramatic 3-2 win at Blackpool in the Carabao Cup.
The 27-year-old Republic of Ireland international completed a first hat-trick since 2015 in stoppage time to send the Sky Bet League One Black Cats into the third round at the expense of their Championship opponents, earning high praise from Johnson.
He said: “I’m really delighted for Aiden O’Brien. I thought maybe he didn’t get the credit he deserved last season.
“Charlie (Wyke) finished the chances but he often played better.
“He deserved more of the credit for Charlie’s (25 league) goals. We gave him that internally, he’s a really good player.
“Every win is important, it really is. We’re trying to win the trust of the supporters all the time and that can be really powerful.
“It buys you the odd bad performance because they see that the lads are putting their all in and they see that we’re trusting youth.”
Blackpool led early through Shayne Lavery before two goals in three minutes from O’Brien put Sunderland in front at the break.
The home side battled back, though, with Josh Bowler equalising late on, only for O’Brien to strike even later, much to the frustration of Blackpool boss Neil Critchley.
He said: “To lose in that manner is really gutting for the lads.
“We thought we had done enough to send the game to penalties and then you never know.
“We showed great character to equalise right at the end and then we concede in stoppage time, it’s frustrating.
“We’re really disappointed to go out of the cup.
“The fans were amazing, as they have been ever since they have been allowed back in this season.
“It’s disappointing that we couldn’t see it out for them, they were magnificent.”
