JACK ROSS says Chris Maguire will be a permanent fixture in his Sunderland starting line-up provided he maintains the standards he set in the second half of Friday’s 2-2 draw with Accrington Stanley.

Maguire set up both of the Black Cats’ goals after coming off the substitutes’ bench three days ago, and came close to claiming a winner with a free-kick that was cleared off the line.

He is set to return to the starting XI for tomorrow night’s home game with Gillingham, and while his form might have dipped over Christmas, resulting in his demotion to the bench, he will be a key figure in the final 15 games of the season if he continues to hit the levels he produced against Accrington.

Ross said: “What he showed was a return to the levels he had been at earlier in the season. Often, footballers become better players when they don’t play. That happens in the eyes of a lot of people. I’ve been there myself – whenever I was injured, I all of a sudden became ten times better than I was when I was playing. Then I was back a couple of games and people remembered I wasn’t very good!

“In Chris’ case, his form had dipped a little bit. We needed to see more of a response from him, but that was always communicated with him and he always had an understanding of where he was at.

“Equally, he always knew that opportunity would present itself, it was then how he took it. The majority of the second half he played on Friday, he absolutely did that.

“I said that to him after the game – when he produces that level, he’ll always play because he has quality. It’s just about making sure he does that time after time in games and time after time in training.”

Ross switched to a 4-4-2 formation for the first half of Friday’s game, but the ploy did not work, with Sunderland’s defence finding themselves repeatedly overrun whenever Accrington counter-attacked.

Maguire’s introduction into more of a ‘number ten’ role helped improve the balance of the Black Cats side, and tomorrow’s game is likely to witness a return of the 4-2-3-1 system that has been Ross’ preference for the majority of the season.

The Black Cats boss said: “There’s a variety of reasons why we make any decisions, whether it be individually or collectively as a team. That’s where the unseen side of things comes in – there’s a huge amount of thought process behind any decision.

“The reality is that in football, if you win a game all your decision-making is brilliant, if you lose a game it’s all rubbish. That’s how it’s judged. You’ve got to live with that. The truth is somewhere in the middle.

“I thought in the second half we played a shape that we have been more accustomed to this season, and we were better. Like everything, it’s about looking at what you have at your disposal, and what gives you the best chance of winning the game.”