Why do Sunderland wait so long to make substitutions? Phil Parkinson reveals his thought process

Kyle Lafferty was the first substitute to enter the fray as he replaced Denver Hume in the 69th minute, but fans had been calling for changes long before the wing-back was withdrawn.

But Parkinson – who has often waited until the later stages of the game before making any changes – was keen to give the team who had performed strongly in recent weeks more time on the pitch.

The introductions of Lafferty and Antoine Semenyo saw Sunderland somewhat abandon their 3-4-2-1 shape of recent weeks as they went gung-ho in search of a leveller.

And it was a desire to ensure that cohesion and shape remained that saw the Black Cats’ boss hold off on any changes.

“I just wanted to give us a bit of cohesion in our play, and I could feel it coming,” he said.

“It [making substitutions] changes the dynamics of the team.

“I thought Laff has worked hard and did well when he came on the other day.

“At half-time we said we were right in the game we told the lads to keep calm and we needed just a little bit more quality. I just wanted to give the team that has done so well a little bit longer.”

One player who didn’t enter the fray at St Andrew’s was Will Grigg, who was something of a surprise inclusion on the bench having been absent from the squad in recent weeks.

And Parkinson explained why the striker was included – and the extent of absentee Duncan Watmore’s injury.

“Griggy scored a goal on Wednesday, he's training well and he's pushing to be involved,” said the Sunderland boss.

“We included him today with Duncan out with a slight problem.

“Duncan’s just got a bruised heel,” he continued.

“We just felt it was best that we left him out of the 18 today, and hopefully he’ll be right for next week.”