Sunderland boss makes a selection admission on 'key' player Corry Evans

Sunderland face a rapid turnaround before another game of huge importance, with the 31-year-old set to play a crucial role.

Evans has been a regular under Neil but conscious of the currently heavy schedule, Jay Matete moved deeper and Elliot Embleton came into midfield following his recent cameos from the bench.

It worked superbly for most of the first half, but Evans was introduced shortly after Shrewsbury Town’s equaliser.

“I'm glad to say now that we've won the game, yes [he was rested],” Neil said.

"If we didn't win the game, that's a bad decision. However, you look at Embleton's first goal...“When we try to win games you want attacking players on the pitch, as many as you can, and then you get that first 40 minutes where everyone is firing.

"What also happens is that 20 minutes that goes against you, and you're asking attacking players to defend. Then you get that looseness, that lack of grit. I'm not labelling that at any one player by the way, it's just not their forte.

“But if you want to play regularly and be in a successful game, you need to be able to do both sides of the game.

“It’s difficult because when you’re a fan watching the game, you want to see exciting players who run with the ball and take on everybody, but what Corry does is he snuffs out counter-attacks by just being in the right position,” he added.

“It doesn’t break and then he has to get across to stop it, he stops it by landing on the ball every time it drops out.

“When you see him at the end of the game, all he does is position himself really, really well with that experience.

"He limits his touches, he recycles the ball and he gets himself up and down both sides. And he does that extremely well. He’s a very good leader in terms of leading by what he’s doing on the pitch. I think he’s been key for me since he’s been here.”