How did the players fare in Sunderland's 1-1 draw with Burton?
SUNDERLAND (3-5-1-1):
3 Matthews: Committed an absolute howler as he failed to hold on to Powell’s weak shot, enabling Vernam to score
5 McLaughlin: Always looked fairly solid in defence and tested O’Hara with a decent effort at the start of the first half
6 Wright: Marshalled Sunderland’s defence effectively throughout and kept the physical Akins under wraps
5 Flanagan: Didn’t give much away defensively, but was taken off with 20 minutes left as Sunderland chased the game
4 O’Nien: Got himself into some decent positions down the right-hand side, but let himself down with some poor balls into the box
5 Scowen: Saw plenty of the ball, but didn’t always use it effectively and should have done better with a close-range chance
5 Leadbitter: Stopped Burton’s midfielders from breaking forward, but wasn’t able to offer anything in an attacking sense
6 POWER: Spared Sunderland’s blushes with a powerful header and never stopped trying to drive his team forwards
5 Hume: Another player whose final delivery into the penalty area didn’t live up to the quality of some his work to that point
4 Embleton: Finally got his chance to impress from the start, but fell flat as he was unable to unpick the Burton defence
4 Wyke: Wasn’t able to make an impact before an injury forced him to hobble off midway through the first half
Subs:
4 Graham (for Wyke, 25): Wasn’t able to get beyond the Burton defence and failed to convert a couple of decent late chances
4 Maguire (for Embleton, 70): Was introduced in an attempt to add an attacking spark, but wasn’t able to make a difference
5 Grigg (for Flanagan, 70): Thumped a decent second-half header against the post, but wasted another good opening shortly after
Sanderson (for O’Nien, 90)
(not used): Burge (gk), McFadzean, Dobson.
BURTON (4-5-1):
O’Hara 7; Bostwick 7, Hughes 7, BRAYFORD 8, Daniel 6; Vernam 7 (O’Toole 90), Gilligan 5, Powell 6 (Gallacher 82), Quinn 6 (Fox 88), Edwards 6; Akins 5.
Subs (not used): Wallace, Lawless, Ennis, Garratt.
Man Of The Match: JOHN BRAYFORD – The veteran Burton defender handled both Charlie Wyke and Danny Graham and made life extremely difficult for Sunderland’s attackers.
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