Sunderland’s quest for promotion from League One has taken many twists and turns this season.
The Black Cats have just seven games left this season to solidify their place in the playoffs - but who will Alex Neil be relying on to deliver this?
Players come in and out of form throughout a season but when the crunch-end of the campaign comes around, it is often the most reliable players that can be counted on to deliver the goods.
With that in mind, here, we take a look at how each member of Sunderland’s squad this season has been rated by WhoScored.com - calculated using their algorithms that comprise of over 200 raw statistics.
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(Note: To qualify for this list, a player must have played at least 500 minutes of League One football this season)
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1. Corry Evans - 6.52
Sunderland’s club captain has been given just an average rating of 6.52 for his efforts this season. He has featured 26 times this season and scored his first goal for the Black Cats in the defeat to Doncaster Rovers last month. Photo: Frank Reid
2. Anthony Patterson - 6.59
Patterson spent time on-loan at Notts County earlier this season but has become Sunderland’s no.1 choice ‘keeper. WhoScored have given him an average rating of 6.59 for his efforts this season. Photo: Frank Reid
3. Ron-Thorben Hoffmann - 6.62
After arriving from Bayern Munich in the summer, hopes were high that Hoffmann could become Sunderland’s no.1. However, he has recently been usurped by Anthony Patterson in hoal. Hoffmann’s WhoScored average rating this season is 6.62. Photo: Frank Reid
4. Leon Dajaku - 6.63
Like Hoffmann, Dajaku arrived from Germany with huge fanfare and hopes from supporters that he could be the difference maker for Sunderland this season. Unfortunately, that hasn’t happened yet and WhoScored have given him an average rating of 6.63. Photo: Frank Reid