Alex Neil sums up his major Sunderland selection dilemma: 'What do you choose?'

A 2-1 defeat to MK Dons on Saturday afternoon underlined that some younger players whose game time has been significant this season are in need of a rest, but Neil has also made clear that he does not believe many of the January additions are fit enough to start a game.

It leaves him with a challenge ahead of Burton Albion’s visit on Tuesday night, with Sunderland in desperate need of a win after dropping out of the play-off places.

Jermain Defoe was an unused substitute in the defeat to Liam Manning’s side, with Patrick Roberts again limited to a brief cameo after coming off the bench late on.

Both Elliot Embleton and Jack Clarke pushed their claims for a start with lively cameos, but in defence Neil has very few options to change things.

“I highlighted it last week, the last thing I want to do is start making excuses,” Neil said.

“But the difficulty we've got is the fitness levels of some of the lads, who haven't had enough game time.

“The difficulty I've got is with the really limited number of games I've got left, it's how much do I expose them? Because if they're not fit then then they can't show their best and then it affects the game in a negative way for us.

“We're running out of games, so that side of things is really difficult.

“You want to get as many of these talented attacking players on the pitch because they can make the difference, but there's a lot of variables that are making it difficult for us.

“If they're all at the same level, all ready to go, then it's an easy decision.

“Unfortunately, we're not at that stage.

“We have players who need taking out, young players who have played a lot of football.

“But the problem is, what do you choose? Players who are under in terms of their minutes and aren't quite ready, or over in their minutes and need taking out.

“So, what one do you choose?”

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