Abdoullah Ba made his first appearance of Sunderland’s pre-season campaign at Valley Parade on Tuesday evening. Ba had been recovering from a minor knock but has returned to full training in recent weeks.
As expected, Regis Le Bris made 11 changes to his starting XI from the 1-0 win over Blackpool with Leo Hjelde also passed fit to start. Hjelde missed out on the squad on Saturday due to a minor calf problem.
Elliot Embleton was named in the starting XI despite speculation linking him with a move to Blackpool. None of those who started at Bloomfield Road on Saturday have travelled with the group, with a bench made up of academy players named.
Luis Hemir was also been named on the bench. Pierre Ekwah remains absent with a back problem, having not featured since the opening game of the club’s pre-season camp in Spain.
Sunderland went 2-0 down in the first half to goals from Calum Kavanagh and Andy Cook. Romaine Mundle pulled one back for the visitors in the second stanza.
Here, we take a look at how Phil Smith rated Sunderland’s players against Bradford City:
9. Adil Aouchiche
Didn’t do enough in the first half, though he was far from alone on that front. Stepped it up in the second and his assist for Mundle was a pass of real quality. Went close to scoring once or twice. 5 | Ian Horrocks
10. Romaine Mundle
Genuinely superb. Bradford couldn’t get near him, the winger carrying the ball huge distances on a night where the team generally couldn’t get going. Took his goal very well and made a real statement to Le Bris. 8 | Ian Horrocks
11. Nazariy Rusyn
Put himself about in the second half but by and large the game passed him by. Little sight of goal and relatively well handled by the Bradford defence. 4 | Ian Horrocks
12. Tommy Watson
One or two flashes of his dribbling ability without impacting the game too much. 5 | Ian Horrocks