'Thing is...': Sunderland boss makes Abdoullah Ba point after that Middlesbrough miss

Michael Beale says Abdoullah Ba's first-half performance at Middlesbrough shows he is making real progress at Sunderland, despite the crucial miss that came to define it.

Ba looked certain to back up his crucial goal against Stoke City a week previous when Jack Clarke teed him up inside the box just before half time, but the winger could only drive his effort straight at the defender on the line. It was undoubtedly a significant moment in the game, which was still goalless at the time, but Beale says the 20-year-old's general performance in the first half as a whole showed his growing importance to the squad.

"Jack was so unselfish wasn't he, he lays one up there for Abdoullah," Beale said.

"The thing is, I think Abdoullah played really well in the first half. I felt that both him and Jack were two of the players who were not winning their duels at the start of the second half, the full backs were getting the better of them and they weren't helping the team too much defensively - so we made a change. But Abdoullah is showing, at 20 years of age, that he's a huge asset for Sunderland. I'm really pleased with him, his first-half performance aside from that miss was strong, he caused Engel problems."

Beale has a key selection dilemma in the weeks ahead with Patrick Roberts making his return from injury as Ba's replacement at the Riverside. Deadline-day addition Romaine Mundle is also set to push for more minutes as he gets up to speed with his new team-mates.