Cats’ resilient defence stand firm to thwart Morecambe's Stockton

While Sunderland were facing a Morecambe side still fighting to avoid relegation, they were also competing against one of the most prolific strikers at League One level.

Shrimps frontman Cole Stockton finished the campaignwith 23 league goals, only Ross Stewart and Wigan’s Will Keane netted more, while the 28-year-old had bagged four in his last six matches before Sunderland’ s visit to the Mazuma

Stadium.

Still, Stockton rarely looked like adding to his tally against the Black Cats, as the hosts registered no shot son target and the striker finished the match with an expected goals figure of zero – according to football database Wyscout.

Sunderland’ s defensive improvements since Alex Neil’s appointment in February have been clear, and the Black Cats have conceded just 10 goals in 15 matches under the Scot.

That has partly been down to Neil’s use of the 3-5-2 formation,which has also allowed the side to play with two strikers, yet injuries have caused dilemmas with that system.

With Callum Doyle, Dennis Cirkin, and Carl Winchester all unavailable at Morecambe, Luke O’Nien was deployed as a left-sided centre-back alongside Danny Batth and Bailey Wright.

As Neil pointed out afterwards, O’Nien’s extra mobility helped ne gate the threat of pace y wide man Dylan Connolly, while Batth and Wright took it in turns to deal with Stockton.

Stockton regularly drifted out to the left where he came up against Wright, yet the forward found little joy.

According to Wyscout, Stockton won just four of his 37 duels, while Wright in particular was quick to thwart the striker whenever he tried to drop deep and receive the ball to feet.

The Black Cats’ improved defensive record has also been helped by the form of captain Corry Evans, who once again did an excellent job of screening his side’s backline.

There were a couple of occasions when Stockton found more freedom in the final third, yet Wright also made an excellent tackle to prevent the striker going through on goal after 31 minutes.

Sunderland will need that defensive solidity when they come up against an in-form Sheffield Wednesday side in the play-offs, a team which beat them 3-0 earlier in the season.

The Black Cats were bullied at Hillsborough on that night in November but have become more resilient since.