Moore scored from the spot in victory against Plymouth Argyle late last year but also missed in the 2-2 draw with QPR, which saw the visitors fight back from 2-0 down to earn a point, while United have a number of good ball strikers in their side, with Gus Hamer and Harrison Burrows particularly dangerous from set-piece deliveries. Anthony Patterson, the Sunderland goalkeeper, worked with club analysts to look at Moore’s previous penalties before the game and the work paid off when he blocked the striker’s effort with his legs.
“I should imagine, from a supporters point of view, they’ll be people saying: ‘Why doesn’t he take them or why isn’t he on them?’” said Wilder ahead of Saturday’s clash with his former club Watford. “And I get that, but Kieffer’s record is outstanding, absolutely outstanding. And at a top level, too. He’s played international football and top-end championships in a promotion-winning team as well.
“Obviously he missed against QPR and was disappointed to miss one the other night in a big moment but there were still other big moments where players made mistakes as well. So we’ll analyse that and look at it. It may be a situation where Kieffer comes off penalties now and regroups and gets himself right.
“We’ll look at that and we’ll analyse everything. We have got technical players in the team who have that ability to step up and convert, and from a mentality point of view too, we have some big occasion players and sometimes that’s what it comes down to. Players miss penalties; Kieffer’s record has been incredible and it’s something we’ll look at.”
