Aiden McGeady's fitness and recovery are the key talking points during the close season at Sunderland, with good reason.

The 33-year-old only returned to fitness in September of last season, then picked up an injury in early April, but his contribution was telling. Whilst Josh Maja's goals owned the headlines before the winter break, with Will Grigg's lack of goals doing the same after, McGeady quietly went about his business.

He might be the wrong side of 30 now but his overall contribution was incredible. He played through the pain barrier to help the promotion push and is now in a race against time to be fit for the big kick off.

How much of a miss might he be? Was he their most important player last season? We shine a spotlight on him to find out.

McGeady played in 40 matches last season, remarkable when you consider he missed the start of the season as well as the end. He did put in an appearance in the play-off final, but missed both legs of the Portsmouth semi-final as well as the final day against Southend. In truth, he should have missed every minute of action from getting injured against Accrington in early April, but his creativity was desperately needed.

When he didn't play, against Portsmouth for example, the Black Cats looked bereft of ideas.

It's not just his creative spark they benefit from though. He bagged 13 goals across all competitions as Sunderland made two Wembley appearances and finished fifth in the table. If he had been fit, could they have done even better? The stats suggest so.

Aiden McGeady is a creator as much as a scorer. He carries the ball well, he passes accurately and he gets shots away. He's an all-rounder who will fill whatever role is asked of him for Sunderland effectively. He gets 2.32 shots on target per game, which will always bring him goals. Had he played more games, he would have scored more goals.

Had he been fit, they might have benefitted more from his driving runs too. He made an astonishing 9.25 dribbles per game, 71.8% of which were successful. We don't have comparison stats here, but that is right up there with the very best in the business. It might have 'only' been League One, but he was as effective for Sunderland as any player for any other club in the division.

His passing accuracy was good as well; 75.8%. It would be remiss to say he didn't put a foot wrong all season, but these numbers include almost a month of playing with a broken foot. Had he played in August, been fully fit in April and again in May, Sunderland might be lining up against Leeds and Derby this season.

It's clear to see that Aiden McGeady is Sunderland's key player and if he is fit this season, they'll be around the top two.