Sunderland midway through their first season back in the Championship, and it's time to hand out the half-term grades. Alex Neil and his successor as head coach Tony Mowbray have between them used 27 players across the 23 league games and one Carabao Cup fixture so far.
Of those, nine joined over the summer - including Jack Clarke and Leon Dajaku who made permanent moves to Wearside after spending time on loan with the Black Cats last term - with three of those arriving on loan. Overall, Sunderland will be happy with the way their season has panned out, with the club reaching the halfway mark sitting in 12th place, seven points above the relegation zone and just three points outside the top six, with Ross Stewart the club's six-goal leading scorer despite playing only a third of the games to this point due to injury.
But which players have made the greatest impact? Which players have handled the step up from League One with aplomb, and which have struggled to make the grade? Here's how our Sunderland AFC writer James Hunter has graded their contributions so far.
