Sunderland suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of League Two Bradford City at Valley Parade. Alex Neil took the opportunity to experiment with a young side, and they fell short against Mark Hughes' Bantams in West Yorkshire.
Emmanuel Odasebe put the hosts in front just after half-time, before Jamie Walker won and converted a penalty to seal the win. Sunderland looked disjointed, particularly in the second half, and Bradford could have added further goals in the latter stages.
Sunderland were well below-par, but the line-up that Neil fielded tonight was very different to the one that will face Coventry City on the opening weekend of the Championship season.
Here's how our Sunderland AFC writer James Hunter rated the players.
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Jacob Carney 5
Looked shaky, particularly when high balls came into the box. Made one good save from Cook
Carl Winchester 6
Did a decent job on the right side of the back three, and later at right-back
Danny Batth 5
Unsure of himself at times
Aji Alese 6
Did OK on his first start since his arrival
Lynden Gooch 5
Acquitted himself well at right wingback, but gave away the penalty
Elliot Embleton 5
Struggled to make an impact
Jay Matete 5
Gave the ball away too often in central midfield
Luke O'Nien 5
Failed to take a grip on the game in midfield
Ellis Taylor 6
Had a tough night at left wingback, but stuck to his task
Jack Clarke 6
Never gave up and at least offered some threat, however little
Jack Diamond 5
Toiled away but got nowhere
Subs
Harrison Sohna 6
For Taylor 61mins. Did OK
Not used: Patterson, Richardson, Neil, Stewart, Wright, Evans, Hume, Cirkin, Pritchard, Roberts, Ballard, Dajaku
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