Stephen Elliott: Why I was surprised and bemused by Phil Parkinson's Sunderland team selection - and this player looks out of his depth

That said, I was happy to see Jack Diamond and new man Callum McFadzean in the team and was interested to see how they performed.

Yet while there were decent showings from these two, it turned into an afternoon to forget for Sunderland.

Mansfield were organised and took their big chance well. Observing the game, you’d struggle to tell which team had not won a game in nearly nine months.

Will Grigg and Danny Graham will have been frustrated with the lack of quality service into them. Barring a couple of half decent crosses, the Mansfield defence didn’t have much to cope with all game.

Sunderland did not manoeuvre the ball quickly enough and with that the visitors never looked troubled all day.

So while the manager said he felt his forwards needed more hunger and movement in and around the box - and I agree with him to an extent - to get the best out of them the ball needed to be moved a lot sooner and with quality into them.

I didn’t see our midfielders play many forward passes with any real intent, instead it was all a bit pedestrian.

They opted for the safe pass more often than not and as a former forward myself, believe me I know how frustrating that can be when you are trying to get that edge on your opponent.

A couple of half chance headers and Graham’s scuffed effort off the post aside, there were no real clear-cut openings manufactured and you felt Sunderland could have been there all night and still not scored.

Elliot Embleton came on for a brief cameo and tried to add a little urgency to the play, but it was too little too late.

Clearly the FA Cup won’t have been high on the list of priorities this season, but nevertheless it’s the manager’s duty to try and win every game.

Frankly, Sunderland are not a team who have enough strength in depth to make as many changes as they did and expect to be strong enough to win games, even against lower opposition. The manager should have recognised this.

Looking at individuals, I’d have to question why George Dobson came back in as he looks totally out of his depth at the moment.

While it’s harsh to single out individuals, his touch is so loose at times and he seems to slow down the flow of the attack repeatedly.

The manager obviously sees something that he brings to the team but for me, yet again, his performance was one that just isn’t good enough. Every decent performance or result this season has come when Dobson has not been in the side.

He and Max Power just do not seem to complement each other, and results and showings suggest that this pairing won’t work any time soon.

It makes you realise just how important it is Grant Leadbitter stays fit if the team are to get promoted.

Every time he has been missing it’s been no coincidence the team’s levels have dropped.

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