Wilson Isidor's tears and injury plus James Trafford's six-minute mind games during Burnley vs Sunderland

Sunderland faced Burnley at Turf Moor in the Championship on Friday evening - with plenty of talking points emerging after the clash.

James Trafford saved two Wilson Isidor penalties as the game ended goalless, meaning the Clarets’ unbeaten home run in the Championship remained intact this season.

Here, we take you through the interesting moments you may have missed before, during and after Sunderland’s clash with Burnley in the Championship:

Trafford’s mind games and Isidor’s injury concern resurfaces

The two names on everyone’s lips after the game were that of Trafford and Isidor. Incredibly, the England youth international goalkeeper managed to save two penalties from the Frenchman during a dramatic evening in the Championship.

Isidor won the first spot kick after substitute Eliezer Mayenda played the striker through. However, replays showed the striker was outside the box when contact was made, though Trafford managed to delay the taking of the penalty by tying his shoelaces and replacing his gloves.

Sunderland then won another penalty after Dennis Cirkin was judged to have been brought down in the area. In all honesty, though, the foul was perhaps a soft one and from a Burnley point of view, justice was served again as Trafford once again managed to save Isidor’s penalty after another lengthy delay between the awarding and taking of the spot-kick. In total, Trafford managed to delay the game by a combined six minutes across both penalties. The mind games, it seems, definitely worked.

In other news, it was concerning to see Isidor go down for such a lengthy period of time in the second half while holding his back once again. The striker was body-checked on the half-way line and spent several minutes on the floor

Isidor also took a knock in the 26th minute of the game and looked to be in some discomfort after a collision which left the big forward feeling his back. The striker was also seen holding his back against Sheffield United a couple of games ago, which does suggest an underlying issue.

After the game, credit has to go to Isidor for going over to the away fans at Turf Moor to applaud the travelling support and offer his apologies. The Zenit loanee looked to be in tears after the final whistle had gone, but it was heartening to see Sunderland’s support rally around the attacker after the game.

Sunderland’s minor pre-Burnley injury boost

Sunderland were handed a minor under-the-radar pre-match injury boost ahead of the game against Burnley.

Ahead of the game, the club’s in-house media team posted a video on their social media account with Sunderland players reacting to the news that Chris Rigg had passed his driving test, doing so at his first attempt.

Republic of Ireland international Alan Browne was pictured walking freely as Sunderland’s stars headed into training during the video, which was filmed earlier in the week ahead of the game on Friday. The midfielder suffered the injury against Coventry City on November 21 with Régis Le Bris stating after the game that Browne was set to be sidelined for up to eight weeks.

At the time of writing, it is eight weeks and two days since Browne injured his leg against Coventry City, meaning he is closing in on a return to action, though Sunderland aren’t likely to rush the summer signing back with Le Bris now having the luxury of midfield options after the return to fitness of Rigg and Samed alongside the signing of Enzo Le Fèe.

However, during the game, Sunderland were handed an injury blow when Chris Mepham was taken off with a foot issue. The Wales international was replaced by Dan Ballard as the game ended goalless on the night.

Régis Le Bris drops team selection surprise

In a little bit of a surprise, having joined the club so recently, Enzo Le Fée made his full debut in the game and lined up on the left wing with Eliezer Mayenda dropping to the bench.

Le Bris was also handed another injury boost after Dan Ballard returned to the matchday squad on Friday night. Unsurprisingly, Le Bris opted not to bring the influential defender straight back into the XI and he instead took his place on the substitute's bench.

Le Bris reverted to his preferred 4-3-3 formation, with Dennis Cirkin replacing the injured Aji Alese at left-back. Rigg also came back into the XI from the last league fixture against Portsmouth. Striker Ahmed Abdullahi made his first appearance in red-and-white for the under-21s at West Ham.

Sad news breaks before Burnley vs Sunderland

Sad news broke ahead of Sunderland’s clash with Burnley. It was announced that Manchester United and Scotland legend Denis Law had died at the age of 84, with his family announcing it on Friday night

Law scored 237 goals in 404 appearances for Manchester United and was the last surviving member of Old Trafford’s “Holy Trinity”, following the passing of George Best in 2005 and Sir Bobby Charlton in 2023. Law also played for Huddersfield Town, Torino and Manchester City during his career.

John O’Shea spotted at Turf Moor

Republic of Ireland assistant manager and ex-Sunderland favourite John O’Shea was spotted at Turf Moor watching his former side take on Burnley.

O'Shea played 256 times for Sunderland, scoring four goals. The former Manchester United man joined the Black Cats in 2011 before moving to Reading seven years later.