QUICK KICKS: I’ve not enjoyed watching a Sunderland player as much as Maguire since Sessegnon!

Running out of superlatives for Chris Maguire

I love watching Chris Maguire play, and I honestly don’t think that I’ve enjoyed watching a player glide around the pitch dictating play this much since Stephané Sessegnon was at the club.

Obviously, we’ve had some very good footballers at the club since he left over five years ago - and some very bad ones I may add - but I’d often sit back in unadulterated awe and watch Sessegnon do his thing on the pitch, and this season I often find myself doing the same thing with Chris Maguire.

Not that I think he’s anywhere near as good as Sess was in his prime, but you get my point - of the 22 players on the pitch, Maguire is usually the most unique.

He’s been a joy to watch this season, particularly in the last few weeks, and last night he destroyed Peterborough in ways I didn’t know were possible. I mean... that touch and turn which allowed him to set up our second goal was absolutely top class.

It’s the type of play from an individual that makes it worth the price of a ticket alone.

Having that extra bit of quality may be the difference between us getting something from a game and losing most weeks, and ensuring that a motivated and happy Chris Maguire is at the centre of all of our plans this season is of paramount importance.

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Best football we’ve seen all season

The quality of the football that Sunderland played in the opening half of the game was comfortably the best we’ve seen from this team all season.

We kept it down, attacked and looked to get at Peterborough by utilising the creative talents of McGeady and Maguire. We looked to get the ball into dangerous areas so that Jerome Sinclair could battle, and so that Maja could receive it at his feet in areas of the pitch where he can be dangerous - and he was.

We got the ball out from the back and effectively pinned our opposition back in their own half - and it was only the referee’s whistle and then the subsequent half-time changes made by Steve Evans that allowed Posh to get back into the game.

I was seriously impressed by the way that we played, and had we not gone down to ten men I think we’d have ran out as comfortable winners in the end.

That is what we must focus on coming away from the game - the fact we were able to dominate a team who are right there up at the top of the league with us.

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Oviedo should know better

I know that there’s been some chat over whether or not he got elbowed in the build up to the incident which saw him receive his marching orders, but as a 28-year old international footballer who is usually very calm and collected, Bryan Oviedo should know better than to do what he did.

We’re now without our best left back for the next three matches, at a time when the lad keeping him out of the team for the last few weeks prior to yesterday’s game, Denver Hume, has picked up a knee injury which will see him miss out for the next six weeks or so.

That’s seriously poor on Oviedo’s behalf and I have no doubt he’ll be gutted with himself today, but the fact is that he’s just made things even harder for his manager, who now has to hope and prey that Reece James can get through the next three games without picking up an injury.

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