Sunderland put in a frustrating performance to drop points away from home to a bottom half side the second time in the space of a week. On the bright side though, we are still top of the league and have extended our unbeaten streak to seven matches.
SIMON MOORE: 6.5/10
Kept a clean sheet and wasn’t worked too hard but did make one brilliant save at the end of the first half. His distribution needs some work though.
TRAI HUME: 6.5/10
He performed some nice tackling at times and his passing was decent. Weirdly just went absent occasionally and made it far too easy for them to get into the box or on the edge of it. Very mixed performance but still a good one.
CHRIS MEPHAM: 6/10
He had a near-howler at one point where he missed a header and nearly let them in. I don’t think his overall night was bad but he just never looked comfortable. After the early booking he was always walking that tightrope.
LUKE O’NIEN: 7/10
Had maybe one bad error throughout the game but performed a key block in the first half and bailed us out a couple of times.
DENNIS CIRKIN: 6.5/10
Towards the end of the game Cirkin was doing well when getting forward. Defensively, he wasn’t poor but I think he could have been more present a bit like Hume sometimes.
DAN NEIL: 6/10
Mixed, like a lot of the Lads tonight. Had a few decent dribbles and bits of skill but made a mess of an effort in the second half and took too long to either pass or shoot at another point in the last 45.
ALAN BROWNE: 6/10
Also very varied. Was putting himself about a lot but it just didn’t come off for him many times this evening. Maybe he was too eager to impress on his return to Deepdale?
TOMMY WATSON: 6/10
Difficult game to make your first start in, he was getting himself into decent positions and linked up well with Hume but he just could never get the final ball right or get round his man enough. Still, we should see more from him in the future (hopefully in his correct position) which is exciting because he clearly has loads of potential.
CHRIS RIGG: 6/10
Most are getting a six tonight and I’m trying not to be too critical because no one really had a howler. Rigg tried to do a bit too much today, he needs to do the simple thing a bit more often. He shouldn't cut out the fancier stuff completely, because once or twice it caused them some bother, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little bit more direct in these tough games.
WILSON ISIDOR: 5/10
When he broke clear and then couldn’t get a shot away it basically summed up his game. I don’t think he offered enough, I can only think of one time when he dropped back and helped relive some pressure in any major way.
AARON CONNOLLY: 5.5/10
Ran about a lot and his off the ball work was decent, but wasn't involved in play at all really. He did almost score in the first half when he made a good run to the front post, but couldn't get make proper contact with his shot. Other than that, the striker was totally starved of service.
SUBS:
PATRICK ROBERTS: 6.5/10
Got us going a bit when he came on, he did have a chance to race forward but chose to make a quite difficult pass that just didn’t work in one instance however.
ROMAINE MUNDLE: 6/10
Linked up nicely with Cirkin but out of the two substitute wingers, Mundle was outshone by Roberts.
ELIEZER MAYENDA: N/A
Nice to see him back from injury but came on too late for a rating. Pressed well but I don't remember him touching the ball.
