First Half!

Lee Burge, 6/10: Didn’t have a great deal to do, but what he did do he did with ease.

Conor McLaughlin, 7/10: Very impressive on the ball. Comfortable and assured. He’s a lot bigger than I thought and looked the part as the right sided central defender.

Glenn Loovens, 6/10: Never looked in trouble and breezed through the half.

Jack Bainbridge, 6/10: Like Loovens he was relatively assured.

Dylan McGeouch, 6/10: Quiet, ticked over nicely without really impressing.

Ethan Robson, 8/10: Real class act on the ball. He stood out a mile. Took his goal well too, which proves that Sunderland do indeed have central midfielders who are not only good on the ball but can be a threat in the opposition box too.

Jake Hackett, 6/10: Never really got involved, but didn’t do anything wrong.

George Honeyman, 5/10: Genuinely forgot he was playing at one point. Did nothing to silence his doubters with what was a fairly anonymous performance.

Lynden Gooch, 5/10: Does too much with the ball. Simplifying his game would do wonders to improve his end product, so much so that it frustrates me when I watch him cos I know he’s better than that. But, it was only a friendly so won’t read too much into it.

Benji Kimpioka, 7/10: Very busy performance. He was unlucky not to score on a couple of occasions, and it was his direct running with the ball that teed up Robson to open the scoring.

Charlie Wyke, 6/10: Battled hard and won some cute knock-downs but he’ll never score many goals in this team for as long as we don’t try to get the ball into him early. He’s far better than the role he’s often been asked to employ under Jack Ross.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Second Half!

Anthony Patterson, 6/10: One hairy moment aside, I thought he did well. Made some good saves during a spell where South Shields had some momentum.

Luke O’Nien, 7/10: Worked hard and took his goal well. He’s earned a shot in an advanced role and I’d much prefer to see him there over most of the other midfielders we have in this current squad.

Tom Flanagan, 7/10: Very assured. I was close to the pitch and it was great being able to hear just how vocal Flanagan actually is. Didn’t realise he was that sort of player!

Jack Baldwin, 6/10: Didn’t do anything wrong. Calm but quiet.

Jordan Hunter, 6/10: Got forward where he could - decent enough.

Denver Hume, 6/10: Was often found up the pitch trying to create from out wide but South Shields doubled up on him and he struggled to get his crosses away. Did do quite well though, just not as impactful as he might have hoped to be.

Grant Leadbitter, 7/10: Like Flanagan, his gob never stopped. Always looked like he had a tonne of time on the ball. Played a lovely lofted through ball from deep which impressed the watching crowd, and was unlucky not to score after his long range strike rattled the crossbar.

Elliot Embleton, 7/10: There’s definitely something about this lad. Busy, incisive and not afraid to take risks. Glad to hear he’s signing a new contract because he should be playing first team football this season.

Duncan Watmore, 7/10: Some purposeful running for once and some neat touches around the box. Always good to see him get through a game unscathed - it’ll only boost his confidence the more and more he does it.

Chris Maguire, 7/10: We definitely upped the tempo in the second half and Maguire had a lot to do with that. Perhaps the biggest take was that, despite murmurs suggesting otherwise, he’s anything but fat! Looked lean, in shape and sharp.

Will Grigg, 5/10: Hardly touched the ball.

Man of the Match: Ethan Robson