Dennis Cirkin came off the bench to rescue a point for Sunderland at Millwall - suffering a head injury that ended his afternoon in the process. The Black Cats were trailing to Jake Cooper's goal scored on the hour, when substitutes Alex Pritchard and Cirkin - who were both making their comebacks from injuries that had ruled them out since December - combined to level the scores ten minutes from time.
Pritchard's free-kick was bravely nodded in off the post by Cirkin who was left in a heap on the floor, with his teammates immediately calling for medical attention. After receiving treatment, he was able to walk off but he had to be replaced by deadline day signing from Everton Joe Anderson, who came on for his debut.
Sunderland were second-best for long periods and Millwall will feel they could and should have won, with ex-Black Cat George Honeyman seeing a 'goal' ruled out for offside in the first half, while Murray Wallace hit the woodwork in the second while the game was still goalless. But Sunderland will point to their resilience to salvage a point from a physical encounter, and they have now lost just one of their last nine games in all competitions.
