In Andrew Taylor’s first match as caretaker, the lads gave an unsatisfactory performance that led to a rather fortunate 1-1 draw with relegation-threatened Burton Albion.
Remi Matthews (4/10): Had almost nothing to do, except for one save, which he failed to do, but instead gifted Albion a goal.
Luke O’Nien (5/10): Didn’t ever really look up to speed with the game and wasn’t on the same wavelength as his teammates. Went off with what looks like a very bad injury.
Conor McLaughlin (6/10): Looked pretty confident on the ball and seems to be really settled as a right sided centre back.
Bailey Wright (6/10): Read the game well as a whole, although Burton didn’t offer too much attack-wise. That being said, Wright was very exposed when we shifted to a four man defence.
Tom Flanagan (5/10): Poor in possession again and his lack of quality was on display again tonight.
Denver Hume (6/10): Put a few decent crosses in, but never managed to find a teammate until the eightieth minute, when he admittedly got an assist. Possibly could have cleared the ball earlier for their goal, but blaming him would be unfair.
Grant Leadbitter (6/10): Kept things simple in midfield, often cleaning up after loose balls and retaining possession well. Wasn’t at his most creative today but that’s understandable given the team’s performance as a whole.
Max Power (6/10): Saw a lot of the ball as Sunderland kept possession, but often over-complicated things and gave the ball away cheaply. At the same time, Power did provide some excellent crosses for the strikers and ultimately pulled us back into the game with a powerful header.
Josh Scowen (6/10): Offered plenty of energy and covered a lot of ground without showing any real attacking threat.
Elliot Embleton (6/10): Delivered some good set pieces, but lacked any end product from open play. Overall not bad considering the youngster hasn’t featured a lot recently.
Charlie Wyke (6/10): Came off very early with an injury so couldn’t make an impact.
Subs:
Danny Graham (6/10): Made himself a nuisance and came close to grabbing a goal with his constant running and physical presence.
Chris Maguire (7/10): The double substitution of Maguire and Grigg changed the game, as the lads instantly played with more urgency and applied the pressure.
Will Grigg (6/10): Hit the post with an impressive effort, and just hit a header wide a minute later. Made his presence known in the twenty minutes he featured.
Dion Sanderson (N/A): Came on in added time for the injured O’Nien.
