Sunderland will go into tonight’s game full of confidence that they can end the night in a playoff spot, as they host a wounded Blackpool.

Whilst the Black Cats have lost just one of their last five, the visitors have lost all of their last three Championship games. If they were to lose tonight and results went against them, the Seasiders could conversely finish the night in the relegation zone.

Due to the struggling nature of their opposition, plus the fact that they played on Saturday, Tony Mowbray could use this game to rest some key players and start some of the more under-utilised but exciting individuals.

The Stadium of Light would rejoice at the chance to finally see Amad Diallo start for the first time, and show the magic that made Manchester United fork out an initial £19m for his services.

Although he has shown little in his brief cameos, across his loan spell at Rangers and limited game time at Old Trafford, he has offered glimpses of immense quality that suggest he could terrorise his opposition full-back, likely Dominic Thompson.

For the Scottish giants, across all competitions he scored five and assisted once in just 16 games.

He has mainly starred for the United U21s during his short career, with six goals and four assists in just five games suggesting this level is beneath him

Owen Hargreaves is one who expects big things from the 20-year-old but saw qualities in him that reassured him. He said: “He’s got real talent, got a nice left foot… I think he’s a creative player."

He continued by noting that “hopefully he’s a special one for the future."

With Thompson part of a Blackpool side that has conceded 16 times in just 11 games, they will be petrified at the prospect of facing the Wearside outfits’ numerous tricky attackers.

The 22-year-old in particular is being dribbled past 0.8 times per game and wins possession just 0.3 times per game. If Diallo is on form, therefore, he should have a field day against the fellow youngster.

Conversely, the Ivorian has averaged 1.0 key passes per game during his few minutes for Sunderland. Given the fragility of their opponents, and the space Diallo will likely find himself in, now could be the perfect time to truly unleash him upon the Championship.