Cue a nervous wait and an increasingly large pile of chewed fingernails on Wearside. Thankfully, by Monday lunchtime, Regis Le Bris, in that calming way of his, had swooped in to allay Mackem fears.

Deploying their usual pressing game was difficult as Derby's direct style and three-man defence made it difficult even for Sunderland's front two to apply consistent pressure on the ball, but the long ...