How did the players fare in Sunderland's 1-1 draw at Oxford?
OXFORD (4-1-4-1):
Eastwood 6; Hanson 7, Nelson 6, Dickie 6, Ruffels 6; Mousinho 5 (Carruthers 86); WHYTE 8, Brannagan 7, Henry 6 (Browne 73), Graham 6; Mackie 5 (Sinclair 63, 7).
Subs (not used): Stevens (gk), Long, Sykes, Kashi.
SUNDERLAND (4-1-4-1):
8 McLAUGHLIN: Kept Sunderland ahead with three excellent saves and couldn’t have done anything with Browne’s equaliser
6 Matthews: Showed plenty of commitment down the right-hand side, but his distribution occasionally let him down
6 Baldwin: Got the nod ahead of Flanagan at the heart of the back four and feared reasonably well against Mackie
6 Dunne: Opened his Sunderland account with a thumping close-range header, but should have been much stronger as Sinclair broke clear
5 James: Struggled against Whyte for the majority of the afternoon – might find himself dropped for Oviedo on Tuesday
7 Leadbitter: Wasn’t quite as impressive as he was on his debut, but still controlled the base of midfield with a calm assurance
6 Morgan: Showed flashes of technical excellence, but struggled to deal with Oxford’s physical approach in midfield
6 Power: Isn’t hitting the standards he set in the early part of the season – didn’t seem sure whether to push on or sit
6 Honeyman: Tried to support Wyke from his attacking-midfield role, but isn’t really cut out to be a natural ‘number ten’
7 McGeady: Was involved in most of Sunderland’s best attacking moves, with a number of his first-half crosses troubling the Oxford defence
5 Grigg: Will have much better days than this in a Sunderland shirt once his match sharpness returns
Subs:
6 Wyke (for McGeady, 60): His physical presence made a difference as he battled away in the closing stages
6 Gooch (for Morgan, 68): Added some fight down the left-hand side, even if his final ball didn’t cause too many problems
O’Nien (for Grigg, 79)
(not used): Ruiter (gk), Flanagan, McGeouch, Watmore.
Man Of The Match: GAVIN WHYTE – The Oxford midfielder had the upper hand against Reece James all game, and delivered a series of dangerous crosses into the box.
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