PADDY McNAIR might not turn 23 until the end of this month, but the Sunderland midfielder has already been involved in some important matches.

One of his earliest appearances for his former club, Manchester United, came in the pressure-cooker environment of a meeting with Liverpool, and he also represented the Old Trafford side on the European stage in a Europa League game in Midtjylland.

Internationally, he helped Northern Ireland qualify for their first major tournament in 30 years, and played in two group games as Michael O’Neill’s side made it to the knock-out stages at Euro 2016.

In that context, a midweek Championship home game with Norwich City would not normally be something to get the pulse racing. These are far from normal times on Wearside though, and when he lines up at the Stadium of Light tomorrow, McNair freely admits he will be playing in the biggest game of his career.

Going, going, but not yet gone, Sunderland return to action in 24 hours’ time knowing anything less than a victory will almost certainly condemn them to the third tier of English football for only the second time in their history.

Seven points adrift of safety with five games remaining, they need something remarkable if they are going to survive, but a small degree of solace can be drawn from the club’s record prior to McNair’s arrival.

The current scenario has stark similarities to the one that Gus Poyet’s side found itself in at the end of the 2013-14 season. They won four of their last five matches to scramble to safety, and while the current Sunderland team might well have to secure positive results against Fulham and Wolves, Poyet’s side saw off Chelsea and Manchester United to secure their survival. That truly was mission impossible.

The current situation is made tougher by the callow nature of the Sunderland squad, but just as the Poyet-inspired act of escapology began with an action-packed draw that might well have been a victory – at Manchester City – so Sunderland also head into the final five matches of the current campaign on the back of an away point that could have been so much more.

When McNair opened the scoring against Leeds with a crisp first-time volley, it felt as though the Black Cats would have to go on to win the game to give themselves a realistic chance of hauling themselves out of the bottom three. They didn’t, with Pablo Hernandez’s second-half equaliser depriving them of two points, but with their main relegation rivals, Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers, also failing to win, hope has not yet been completely extinguished. Not, however, that it would survive another disappointment tomorrow.

“In terms of helping Sunderland out of the position they’re in, it’s probably one of the biggest games I’ve played in,” said McNair, whose return from his latest injury problem has coincided with the Black Cats claiming four points from their last two away games. “Just because of the position we’re in, it’s probably one of the biggest games of my career.

“It’s a massive, massive game. If we don’t win, and teams around us get a result, it could be getting to the stage where it’s impossible to survive. We’re not there yet though, so we have to keep believing.

“We don’t want to be in a situation where we’re heading into the last four games needing 12 points to get out of it, but to avoid that, we simply have to beat Norwich. We can’t look beyond that now. We have to win on Tuesday, and because of the way we played against Leeds, we’ll go into it with a bit of confidence.”

Time and time again this season, Sunderland have followed a tentative step forward with two giant strides back. The Stadium of Light has proved an especially unhappy hunting ground, but while last Monday’s 3-1 home defeat to Sheffield Wednesday punctured much of the optimism that had been generated by the 4-1 win at Derby County, that game at least represented one of the few occasions this season when the quality of Sunderland’s performance was not reflected in the final result.

The Black Cats have played reasonably well in their last three outings, so while a return of four points from a possible nine is insufficient in terms of the bigger picture at the foot of the table, Chris Coleman can still point to an upturn in form as something to cling to.

Saturday’s performance at Elland Road was far from perfect, and Sunderland would have been returning to the North-East with nothing had Samuel Saiz not curled an 88th-minute free-kick against the inside of the post. His fellow midfielder, Ronaldo Vieira, also struck the woodwork in the first half, drilling a low shot against the base of the upright.

Nevertheless, there was a cohesion and composure to Sunderland’s play that has been lacking in the vast majority of their performances this term, with Coleman’s belated decision to revert to a 4-3-3 formation helping shore things up at both ends of the field.

Defensively, the Black Cats look much more comfortable with a four-man backline. Lamine Kone and John O’Shea are more secure at the heart of the back four, and while Marc Wilson is hardly a natural left-back, defensively he is an adequate replacement for the injured Bryan Oviedo.

Further forward, Lynden Gooch and Aiden McGeady look comfortable in their roles on the flanks, with McNair providing some welcome thrust and dynamism at the heart of midfield. Too much self-inflicted damage has been wrought this season for Sunderland to wallow in hard-luck stories, but the fact that McNair has only been able to start eight Championship matches is a massive pity. Unlike so many of his team-mates, he looks a cut above this level.

“The last 18 months has been hell for me, watching the team on the sidelines and not being able to help,” said the Northern Irishman. “That’s three games in a row now, so hopefully I can keep going.

“I think one of the big things in the last three games is that we’ve basically played the same team.

“When you don’t have changes every week because of suspensions or injuries, if you can keep the same 11 or 12 players, you can start to get an understanding with each other.”

McNair’s goal on Saturday was a cracker, with his fierce first-time finish rounding off a slick passing move involving Gooch and Donald Love.