Everything Alex Neil said about team news, Aiden McGeady and the League One play-off race ahead of Shrewsbury fixture

That brings us to the end of the broadcast section of the press conference, but Neil has also spoken to the written press, including our chief SAFC writer Phil Smith.

You can find more from the Black Cats boss, as well as build-up to Friday’s match over on the SAFC section of the Echo website.

We’ll also have full coverage of tomorrow’s match on our live matchday blog.

See you soon.

In some games he’s performed better than in others, I thought Saturday was arguably one of his quieter games.

Equally I think there have been some home matches that have been relatively tight and he’s been a good outlet for us, he gets us up the pitch.

He can go either way, probably more so playing on the right side he probably needs to mix it up a little bit more, but he’s dynamic and direct, takes people on one-on-one which is always a good sign.

He has missed a few key chances as well which is probably the next step for him, being more clinical in front of goal.

Lincoln is one in particular that sticks in my mind where he had a golden opportunity and they are the moments we have to capitalise on.

In the main his appetite for the work he needs to do and willingness to be a threat for usand get us up the pitch he’s done well.

I did say we were really reliant on Aiden’s rehab, as much as anything else.

“He’s made better progress in the last seven days, and I anticipate him being on the grass in the next week, although potentially not with us.

“I’m hopeful that in the next week, he might start joining in training again, but it’ll be really reliant on how he goes over these next few steps in terms of what he looks like over the next couple of days, when he gets up to his high speed and all of that type of stuff.

It’ll be a case of how he reacts to that.

I think that we have recognised the importance of playing to the final whistle and I think we carry a threat right through the matches which is good.

The simple fact is you have to race to the finish line, you don’t race to 95 per cent.

We have to make sure for the whole duration of the match we continue to play.

That might be holding onto a lead, it might be chasing to get the win. There is a whole variety of different scenarios.

We have to make sure we are ready and fight for every ball.

I think we have that many limited games that it’s going to be nip and tuck between now and the end.

I think we have seen some teams finding form at the right time, some teams maybe dropping off.

I think the pressure which is going to be applied to each team is going to vary, equally it is going to be who can handle that pressure and pick up those points which is going to matter.

Not at the moment, no.

If you take Gillingham for instance they really wanted to come here, set their stall out and be hard to beat. If you are shrewsbury you can really come here and give it a go.

The one thing I want to point out with Shrewsbury is they have the third best defensive record in the league, conceding 40 goals in 42 games, so they are going to be difficult to beat.

We know the test that is coming but equally we have confidence and belief in what we are doing and think we are good enough to go and win the game.

It’s certainly not going to be an easy game.

You say it will be better - that is yet to be decided really isn’t it.

Obviously we still have the remaining games and potentially the play-offs if we get there.

What it does show is it shows the dedication of the support and the kind of backing that us as a club and us as a team do have.

I think that is a real sign for optimism from our point of view that hopefully the fans see progress and equally we will do our utmost to try and get ourselves out of this division if we can.

I think we are in a positive frame of mind and have a lot of belief in what we are doing.

We have had a couple of really good performances in the recent past at Lincoln and Charlton when I thought we were particular;y good in both games, but we didn’t win.

At this stage of the season it’s about winning games.

When I talk about not talking about previous matches, it’s not something I talk to the players about and we don’t discuss that. We just try to focus on the next one.