Sunderland drew 1-1 with Leeds United on Sunday afternoon

TalkSPORT pundits Jeff Stelling and Tony Cascarino have claimed that Dan Ballard’s injury absence in Sunderland’s 1-1 draw with Leeds United on Sunday afternoon made a “massive difference” to the contest.

The Black Cats centre-back was ruled out of the clash at the Stadium of Light with an ankle complaint, with head coach Regis Le Bris explaining: “Dan got a kick on his ankle against Brighton and was a bit too short to be available today.

“He’s been really important for us - always a shame to lose a player like him. But you have to manage your circumstances and we have options to manage this game. We’ll have to wait until Monday for a clear diagnosis. We'll see on Monday, We'll have another scan. It doesn't seem too serious, but it's important to explore further and to find the best solution for his recovery.”

Sunderland started Sunday’s match brightly, and took a first-half lead courtesy of Simon Adingra’s first strike in red and white, but were unable to capitalise on their early pressure by extending their lead, and were ultimately pegged back by a Dominic Calvert-Lewin equaliser just after the interval.

And while both Stelling and Cascarino were quick to praise the visitors for their battling performance against the Black Cats, they were also in agreement that Ballard’s absence made things notably more difficult for his side.

What have Jeff Stelling and Tony Cascarino said about Sunderland vs Leeds United?

Speaking on talkSPORT on Monday morning, Stelling said: “It was the better of the two games on Sunday, that is for sure. And Leeds... wow. Particularly second half, absolutely brilliant - and two great goals in that game.”

Cascarino added: “There were a few kitchen sinks that were thrown by Leeds yesterday. It wasn’t one - they absolutely threw everything. Fair play. Look, no Ballard in Sunderland’s backline, that’s a massive difference.”

Stelling responded: “Massive... Plus the absentees for the African Cup of Nations. But hey, a point isn’t a bad result for either of those two sides.”

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Later in the show, Stelling continued: “We mentioned the Leeds goal - it was a wonderful team goal, and Calvert-Lewin’s run I thought was terrific as well. Proper striker’s run. But what about the pass from Granit Xhaka and the finish from Adingra for the Sunderland goal?”

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Cascarino replied: “Fantastic, and again... Adingra’s first goal for Sunderland. And to be fair, they were really good, I thought, Sunderland, in the first half. As the game grew, Leeds just grew into the game and Calvert-Lewin, he’s even mentioned in the paper, ‘I’m lethal when I get service’... He’s played in an era with one up front as a big centre forward - no partner, not had the luxury of someone to help you. He’s played that nearly all his career. And okay, [Noah] Okafor wasn’t really a partner yesterday because he played a little bit more on the left side, but they got bodies around him.”

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