The next steps for Sunderland and Aiden McGeady assessed after intriguing press conference responses

McGeady had given Sunderland the lead, his cross from the left flank leading to Luke O'Nien being tripped in the box. The Irishman sent Kieran O'Hara the wrong way, his last meaningful act as a Sunderland player.

The Black Cats contrived to lose it, undone by the pace and craft of Burton Albion’s Marcus Harness and Scott Fraser (sound familiar?).

Not long afterwards, McGeady cut an unhappy figure on the Sunderland bench as they fell to defeat at Gillingham. What came next does not need repeating here.

What's relevant is that a year on, Phil Parkinson was still discussing the 34-year-old at his pre-match press conference.

What that tells us above all else is that his team has not progressed to where it needs to be.

That, after all, is the only way that the Black Cats boss can end the debate over the exclusion over a player who is clearly one of the most talented at the club.

McGeady's name is back on the agenda this week in particular after he made a surprising return to U23 action on Monday afternoon. The winger played 60 minutes in a 4-3 defeat to Crystal Palace, raising understandable questions about what comes next.

It's fair to say Thursday afternoon brought us no closer to the truth.

The first thing to say about McGeady is that in any scenario and under any manager, right now he is a while away from being fit enough for a conversation about a first-team return to even be relevant.

McGeady finished his season with Charlton Athletic in July and after his return, began to train with the club's U23s.

A calf injury followed, though.

After that a minor knee problem, one that required a knee injection and then a period of rest.

Monday afternoon was essentially the start of his pre-season campaign and with that in mind, you can see why we are a while away from a meaningful debate about his restoration.

What happens then remains unclear.

On Thursday afternoon, Parkinson was asked whether the U23s return was part of a plan to get him fit for a January sale, or for senior Sunderland duty.

The answer was deliberately vague, as it was when he was asked whether he would be prepared to have a discussion about a change in approach when the winger is indeed fully fit.

Some fans, unsurprisingly, sensed a less than emphatic response to a question that once seemed settled.

There is, to be clear, no reason to suggest that Parkinson has changed his mind since those acrimonious days of last December.

The Black Cats boss had been clear(ish) then that he felt he needed to improve the culture of the team, and it was a move of significant risk given the team's form and the widespread desire for managerial change on Wearside.

Parkinson wanted to put his stamp on the side after a bleak beginning to his tenure, and this was one of the key ways he did it.

Behind the scenes, there have been no indications that there has been any thaw in his thinking.

It would remain a major surprise if McGeady was to play again under Parkinson's management.

In all likelihood, the remarks on Thursday were simply about trying to put the issue to one side for the foreseeable future.

The reasons why Parkinson made his decision a year ago still stand now, whether right or wrong.

Therein, though, lies the exact reason why this topic will return before the year is out.

For one, the summer brought an interesting public shift from Parkinson when discussing the matter. Now, the Black Cats boss pointed to the rise of a number of talented academy products as another reason why McGeady would not be part of his squad for the season ahead.

Dan Neil was thriving at the time, producing some eye-catching passes in a pre-season campaign laced with promise.

Elliot Embleton was (at one stage) fit again, and finally ready to build on the immense promise of his loan spell at Grimsby Town.

With the season now more than a quarter done, Neil has not featured in the league.

Embleton, in all likelihood, is set for a big increase in his gametime over the months ahead. The general lack of opportunities, though, has made those comments regarding McGeady seem odd.

The other issue, of course, is that a year has passed and there is little concrete evidence on the pitch to suggest that Sunderland have definitively moved forward.

There was a spell in January when the team pressed with real vigour and it was hard to see how McGeady would have thrived with that responsibility.

There have been spells when defensively Sunderland have looked like a formidable unit, and again, that has been made possible in part by the forward options Parkinson has moved forward with.

Generally, though, Sunderland find themselves in a fairly similar situation to where they were when Nigel Clough's Burton side visited.

Both parties, conscious that McGeady is contracted to the club until the end of this season, have been careful to avoid escalating the situation in public.

Parkinson will know that the only way to release the pressure will be to oversee a significant improvement in results.

If performances continue to stagnate, while youngsters do not feature significantly and McGeady is building up to full fitness in the U23s, the debate will go on.

In essence, this is another can kicked firmly down the road.

Another unknown, at a club increasingly defined by them.

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