Sunderland fell to their fourth defeat in a row at Oxford United on Saturday.
Goals from Ben Nelson and Michael Helik either side of half time proved the difference as a much stronger Black Cats side produced a poor performance at the Kassam Stadium. Here’s how we rated the Black Cats...
1. Anthony Patterson
Made one very good early save from Brannagan but then palmed his free kick back out into a dangerous area for the second goal. 5 | Phil Smith Photo: Phil Smith
2. Leo Hjelde
Didn’t do a lot wrong defensively but didn’t offer much in possession and missed a couple of good opportunities to overlap Le Fee. 5 | James Copley
3. Chris Mepham
Beaten once or twice early on but did OK thereafter. One of Sunderland’s better players on the day but still short of his best. 5 | Phil Smith Photo: Phil Smith
4. Luke O'Nien
Tried to get his team going late on with some big switches of play, but it was too little too late. Wasn’t beaten too often defensively. 5 | Phil Smith