Sunderland have had something of a tough pre-season, not only because of signings but also results and off the field events.

The proposed investment by Mark Campbell didn’t come to fruition, leaving them behind in the transfer market. As yet, they’ve not managed to add to their attacking options, something seen by some fans as a must going into the new campaign.

Their results haven’t been great either, 180 minutes of football on their Portuguese tour didn’t bring a goal and a lack of creativity is one of the issues facing Jack Ross going into the new campaign.

He has secured youngster Elliot Embleton on a two-year deal. He impressed with Grimsby Town last season, so we’re shining a spotlight on his time with the Mariners to see if he’s the answer to the Black Cats problems.

Embleton played a key role for Michael Jolley’s side last season, usually sitting behind the front man, but also operating across the middle of the park. He appeared 30 times as they fought to midtable obscurity. He won the Bristol Street Motors PFA Player of the Month for December for his displays and for a short while looked to be the catalyst that fired them to an unlikely top seven challenge.

Whilst his displays looked good at League Two level, there are still question marks over whether he can make the step up or not. He’s an England Under 20 international and obviously has quality in possession, but the Black Cats also need someone driving from deep, chipping in with goals and assists.

He scored three times for Grimsby, adding two assists to his tally. Having a hand in a goal every six games doesn’t pique the excitement levels, but the quality of his teammates might have been a factor. No disrespect intended to Grimsby Town, but Sunderland will have better players teeing Embleton up as well as finishing off his passes.

He’s good on the ball, his passing accuracy was 76.2% which is a decent number, especially for a young player in the rough and tumble of League Two action. It’s an unforgiving league with hard players looking to give the youth something to remember them by; Embleton held his own.

He didn’t get as many shots off as perhaps Sunderland will like, just 0.99 per game. He was used is several positions though, his most common place on the park was behind the striker, but he only spent 21% of his time in that role, the rest split across the midfielder; left flank, right flank and centrally. He even popped up as a centre forward late in matches.

Not only was his passing good, he had 52.5% dribble success as well. Remember, in a division that doesn’t afford a player time and space, that’s a good number.

Could that lack of consistency in his position lead to the rather underwhelming numbers? Very possibly, he percentages in terms of passing and dribbling were strong, but the end product didn't always come.

The first glance doesn’t suggest that Elliot Embleton is going to address Sunderland’s problems instantly, but there is enough to at least give him an outside chance of being a valuable squad player which, for a boy of just 20-years-old, should be good enough at this stage of his career.