AS Jack Ross freely admits, you have to be a certain type of character to succeed at Sunderland. Playing in front of 30,000 supporters in League One is a massive privilege, but it comes with a fair amount of responsibility and pressure attached.

Footballing ability is obviously a prerequisite for success, but the Black Cats’ position at the moment demands more than latent talent. It calls for self-confidence and courage, leadership and unshakeable self-belief. It demands a willingness to take risks, and maybe a little touch of arrogance. In short, it requires all the attributes that Chris Maguire so thrillingly displayed as he left the substitutes’ bench to transform Friday’s 2-2 draw with Accrington Stanley.

Maguire epitomised Sunderland’s regeneration in the first half of the season, with his swaggering bravado proving a perfect fit for a club desperate to live up to its status as the powerhouse of the third tier.

His energetic attacking style made him a firm fans’ favourite, but while he might have been nicknamed ‘the King’, it did not take long for his crown to begin to slip.

Some below-par autumn performances saw him dropped to the substitutes’ bench, and the arrival of five new players in the January transfer window meant there were times at the start of this month when he could not even force his way into Ross’ matchday squad of 18.

For a player who thrives on being the main man, such public rejection must have been hard to take, but as is his want, Maguire was not going to settle for being out of the limelight for long.

Thrown on in the 53rd minute of Friday night’s game, with Sunderland trailing 2-0, the 30-year-old set up two goals within his first nine minutes on the field. Two minutes later, and he came close to claiming a winner with a free-kick that was cleared off the line.

Faced with the most testing moment of Sunderland’s season, Maguire stepped up to the plate. Given that the pressure is only going to increase in the next two-and-a-half months, Ross will surely not be leaving him on the periphery of things anymore.

“The last few weeks have been tough because it’s not nice,” said Maguire. “The type of player I am and the position I play, you feel like you can always contribute something towards the game.

“It is difficult, you’re sitting on the side and you can’t influence it. But you’ve got to keep the right frame of mind, and believe that when you get the chance, you can influence it.

“Hopefully, I’ve staked my claim. I want to do well at this club and I think the fans can see that. I want to get promoted, that’s what I came here to do.

“I want to play in that stadium in front of that crowd, and I feel I’ve got the quality to go out and show it.”

Ross praised Maguire’s attitude in the immediate aftermath of Friday’s game, and the Black Cats boss has clearly been impressed by the forward’s refusal to sulk when he was left out of the team.

The respect between manager and player is mutual, with Maguire quick to praise Ross’ man-management skills even though he was bitterly disappointed with the Scot’s decision to leave him out of the team.

Whereas some managers would have offered no explanation for their decision-making, Ross was quick to sit down with Maguire to discuss his thought process and outline what the summer signing could do to force his way back into the team.

“You want to know the reasons,” said Maguire. “To be fair, I’ve got a great relationship with the gaffer, he’s been honest with me and I’ve been honest with him.

“That’s football, sometimes you find yourself out of the team. With the new additions in January, the squad is bigger and people are fighting to get in the 18, never mind the team.

“He’s told me what I need to do, and I think I’ve done that the last couple of weeks. On Friday, hopefully I did that on the pitch.

“I feel good, it’s been a case of working hard behind the scenes, getting my head down in training. When you get the chance on the pitch you’ve got to show it, and now it’s up to the manager what he wants to do on Tuesday.”

Sunderland return to action when they host Gillingham tomorrow, and it is hard to envisage Maguire being left out of the starting line-up again. The ploy of pairing Charlie Wyke with Will Grigg in a 4-4-2 formation did not work on Friday, and while Maguire has only made two league starts since the end of November, his energy and attacking drive are exactly what Sunderland require as they look to end their recent run of draws.

Saturday’s results did not really go Sunderland’s way, with Luton Town and Barnsley winning and Portsmouth and Charlton Athletic both claiming a draw, and with 15 more games to play, the Black Cats find themselves six points adrift of the automatic promotion places, albeit with a game in hand on the two teams directly above them in the table.

“You look at the table, and we’ve only been beaten twice this season,” said Maguire. “Although a lot of those have been draws as well.

“They’re the ones, if you win a few of them the table looks very different and you’re probably ahead in the league.

“We’re still in contention though. We know what we need to do, and in terms of the game on Friday, a point was better than nothing at the end of the day.”