SUNDERLAND 0 LEICESTER 0

IN the last few years, it has become traditional that no matter how a side has performed over the course of a season, their final home game sees their players return to the pitch to mark the end of their efforts.

Formerly known as a ‘lap of honour’, it is now more generally referred to as a ‘lap of appreciation’. Well, there wasn’t much honour on display at the Stadium of Light at the weekend, and given that more than three quarters of the home supporters had left by the time Sunderland’s players trudged back onto the field in the wake of their goalless draw with Leicester, it was incredibly difficult to discern much appreciation either.

Such is the way of things when you have won just four of your 19 home matches over the last nine months, and while it would take a fairly remarkable set of results in the final week of the season to send the Black Cats crashing into the Championship, survival should not be misinterpreted as a cause for satisfaction.

This has been another tortuous campaign for those who watch their football on Wearside, and for all that things have undoubtedly improved since Dick Advocaat replaced the hapless Gus Poyet two months ago, it would have been extremely difficult to make things worse given the extent of the depths Sunderland had already plumbed this season.

Saturday’s goalless draw, which was the Wearsiders’ ninth of the season in all competitions, provided a neat summation of what had gone before. The hosts just about avoided a complete meltdown thanks to some disciplined and well-drilled defensive work, but their attacking play was devoid of pace, creativity and inspiration and, as a result, entertainment was sadly lacking.

Leicester, who rightly calculated that a point would be sufficient to complete their own version of the ‘Great Escape’, failed to record a single shot on target. Sunderland mustered three, none of which unduly troubled Kasper Schmeichel in the opposition goal.

The rest of the afternoon featured plenty of honest endeavour, something that, in fairness, has rarely been missing from the Black Cats’ play this season, but precious little in the way of flair or finesse. It seems like we have been saying this for an eternity, but whatever league Sunderland are playing in next season, adding some of that has to be a priority during the summer.

Will the Wearsiders be planning for another campaign in the top-flight come Sunday evening? They should be. For all that Saturday’s shutout was an uninspiring affair, the final outcome edged the hosts three points clear of 18th-placed Hull City, meaning that a point from either of their remaining two games will guarantee their survival.

Admittedly, those games take them to Arsenal and Chelsea, but having spent the whole of the season flirting with the relegation places, the current situation is probably the best that could have been hoped for.

It is certainly far rosier than looked like being the case before Sunderland claimed seven points from their last three games, and with Hull hosting Manchester United in six days time, they could survive without picking up another point anyway. Steve Bruce racked up 41 defeats in his two-and-a-half years as Black Cats manager, so it would be somewhat churlish of the Hull boss to start presiding over victories now.

“It’s incredible with the run we’ve been on that we are still not safe,” said Advocaat. “If you have 37 points then normally you are safe. But we will keep going until the end and we just have to do what we have to do to get that point.

“Why can’t we get a result at Arsenal? We will go there and try and do the same as Swansea did (when they won 1-0). If you are organised, you will always get chances.  We still have everything in our own hands and I have a good feeling.”

That good feeling presumably owes much to Sunderland’s rediscovered defensive strength, which was apparent again at the weekend. If last month’s 4-1 defeat to Crystal Palace is regarded as a brief aberration, then Advocaat’s six other games in charge have seen his side concede just three goals.

That, more than anything, is why they have hauled themselves to the brink of safety in the nick of time, and whereas Connor Wickham emerged as an unlikely hero in the final stages of last season, this time around it is Sebastian Coates who has stepped out of the shadows to play a prominent role in the climax of the campaign.

The Liverpool loanee had made just three Premier League starts in Sunderland colours prior to last month’s game with Stoke, but after being promoted to the starting line-up for the 1-1 draw at the Britannia Stadium, he has retained his place for the last three matches.

He performed creditably in all of them, with his committed and composed display alongside John O’Shea at the weekend a key factor in Sunderland’s successful neutering of a Leicester side who had ripped Newcastle apart just two games earlier.

The visitors barely threatened, and while the Black Cats were hardly a menacing proposition themselves, at least they were responsible for the few chances on display.

Schmeichel denied Seb Larsson, Danny Graham and Adam Johnson at various stages, before Sunderland’s best opportunity was spurned when substitute Steven Fletcher headed Johnson’s cross wide of the upright with eight minutes left.

“We were organised, but we needed more, and we got it when Adam Johnson came on ,” admitted Advocaat. “We hope to use him in our last two games and get more chances.”