Alex Pritchard and ex-Celtic ace need to be Sunderland starters to win promotion - Stephen Elliott

It was quite easy at times for Plymouth Argyle to sniff out any danger.

I don’t think I’d be far off in saying that Elliot Embleton was the player Sunderland were looking for to unlock the Plymouth door in that advanced midfield role.

But it never quite materialised for him unfortunately.

Jack Clarke has shown glimpses of quality but in my opinion he is still a work in progress and has a lot to learn at Sunderland.

With that in mind if I was Alex Neil I’d be hoping that Alex Pritchard will be available soon with just three games of the League One season left.

If he is fit then for me, along with Patrick Roberts, should be an automatic starter from now on in.

From what I have seen this season those two players, as well as maybe Sheffield Wednesday’s Barry Bannan, are players in this division who have had moments on the pitch that make you realise they should be playing at a higher level then this third tier.

And for that reason I believe if Sunderland are to finish this season with Championship football to look forward to next year, then these two will be key to that happening.

As I mentioned above we can’t get too carried away but I do feel there are some big moments left for both players in this campaign.