Dan Neil felt his early yellow card against Huddersfield Town 'killed' his game as it left him walking a tightrope for more than three-quarters of the match. The academy graduate was making his 100th appearance for Sunderland but could not mark the occasion with a win, as the Black Cats were held to a 1-1 draw by the relegation strugglers at the Stadium of Light.
Neil was playing as Sunderland's sole defensive midfielder, but he had to watch his step after picking up a booking inside the opening 15 minutes for a foul on Brahima Diarra. And he admits that had an effect on the team for the remainder of the game as it meant he had to be extra careful when putting in tackles to break up Huddersfield attacks.
Sunderland went in front in the first half through Joe Gelhardt, but Josh Koroma levelled on the hour with boss Tony Mowbray complaining afterwards that the Town man was allowed to travel too far without a challenge. "I think the role I was playing with Pritch [Alex Pritchard] and Pat [Patrick Roberts] ahead of us, I was that one who has to break the play up and put in tackles and win duels," said Neil.
