Chris Dunlavy

BLOW: Ross Stewart

Ross Stewart’s torn achilles is a crushing blow to Sunderland, whose play-off challenge was only ever one bad injury away from catastrophe.
The Scot has averaged a goal every 104 minutes this term, the best record in the entire Championship, and his all-round game is critical to the way Sunderland’s attack functions.

Now he is gone, and the return of Ellis Simms to parent club Everton leaves on-loan Leeds man Joe Gelhardt as the only out-and-out striker at the club.

Gelhardt is good, and will get better, but to expect a newly-arrived 20-year-old to ca...