A number of Sunderland supporters have been reacting to the latest admission from Lee Johnson that Chris Maguire has not been featuring heavily for the Black Cats due to him wanting to give chances to other players.

Maguire has managed to start just one game for the Black Cats since Johnson took over, with the attacker having not started since his first game in charge back in December. The 32-year-old has still been coming off the bench for Sunderland at least, with his last league appearance coming in the 3-1 win against Oxford United at the start of the month.

However, Johnson has now revealed that he had told Maguire that he would have been able to leave the club in January if he wanted to with his opportunities limited. He also revealed though that the attacker had turned down the offers of two different clubs to remain with the Black Cats until the end of the campaign when his current deal ends.

Johnson has also suggested that because Sunderland have the likes of Aiden McGeady, Jordan Jones, Lynden Gooch, Jack Diamond and Elliot Embleton in the squad, Maguire has been the one that has to miss out in terms of getting regular appearances for the Black Cats.

He said: "There's a lot of competition [for places], and fans have the right to air whatever their feelings are.

"If it wasn't Chrissy it might be Aiden McGeady, for example [who was left out], or if it wasn't Aiden McGeady it might be Jack Diamond, or if not him then Jordan Jones.

"Inevitably, decisions have to be made and you stand or fall by those decisions.”

Many Sunderland fans were suggesting that Johnson is making a similar mistake to the one that Phil Parkinson made with McGeady earlier in the campaign.

Here, we take a look at some of the best reactions on social media…