Sunderland v Bolton Wanderers: Player Ratings

Simon Mignolet - 5

Far from his best night but not really culpable either, though would have fancied himself to do better on the second I'd wager. The old distribution demon seemed back at times, too.

Phil Bardsley - 2

Seemed to be perpetually locked in a cycle of taking about four touches to control the ball and then lumping it aimlessly down the wing. Far too bad for a lack of pre-season to even begin to excuse.

Matthew Kilgallon - 2

Just as bad as Bardsley, perhaps marginally worse. This lad is given chance after chance and, unless he is playing against Manchester City, just blows them. The chances have surely ran out.

Titus Bramble - 4

The best of the Sunderland back line and that in itself is a crushing indictment of this performance.

Jack Colback - 3

Probably his worst performance in a Sunderland shirt. Granted he was out of position but, like Bardsley on the other side, it was too bad to be excused.

David Vaughan - 4

So good against West Ham yet very poor in this one. Ponderous on the ball and just didn't seem even remotely interested. Heralded by many as some kind of miraculous solution to all Sunderland's midfield woes, but the fact he has been at the heart of the team during both meek cup surrenders to Championship sides this season cannot be overlooked.

Craig Gardner - 4

Once again failed to show any real aptitude for his 'favoured' central midfield role. To be fair, he did hit one or two very nice free kicks which bumped his rating slightly, but he could have done that from right back where he belongs.

Adam Johnson - 5

Looked like the biggest threat in the first half, but almost embarrassingly poor after that. The midfield failed to provide him with much quality possession but, once again, you can only excuse so much.

Stephane Sessegnon - 6

Probably the only Sunderland player to emerge from the game with anything even resembling credit, and by 'credit' we obviously mean 'didn't make a total fool of himself'.

James McClean - 4

No influence on the game at all. In fact, at times you'd have been forgiven for forgetting he was on the pitch.

Connor Wickham - 4

Struggled to lead the line on his own. From his movement - or lack of - it seemed he just didn't really know how to and got a little lost amidst the responsibility. A tough night for him, but perhaps we needed a reminder of his tender years.

Fraizer Campbell - 4

I suppose he ran around a bit.

Seb Larsson - 5

He didn't really do anything that annoyed me, for which I owe him some thanks given the context of the rest of the night.

Lee Cattermole - 5

Nice to see him back.

Man Of The Match: YOU MUST BE JOKING?!

Oh, you're not joking? Okay, then. If the question is essentially 'who made me want to gouge out my own eyes the least?', then the answer is Stephane Sessegnon.