With the games running out and the margins for error growing ever thinner, there is no denying Saturday's re-run of the Checkatrade Trophy final between Sunderland and Portsmouth is one of the biggest and most important League One games of the season.

While Portsmouth currently sit third in the table, two points off Barnsley in the second automatic promotion spot,  Sunderland are a further two points behind their visitors. Both sides therefore, will go into this proverbial battle of the giants knowing that the loser is all but certain to be left facing the lottery of the play-offs, and that is what makes the latest injury revelations to come out of the Stadium of Light all the more concerning for Jack Ross and side.

Earlier this week, Sunderland midfielder Aiden McGeady revealed that he has played the last five games of The Black Cat's promotion campaign with a fractured bone in his foot, and that is not something you need me to tell you is a huge concern.

McGeady's contribution to Sunderland's cause has been invaluable this season, as evidenced by his recent inclusion in the PFA League One Team of the Year, and despite his side's promotion push, he was the only member of his squad to be selected.

Sunderland you feel therefore, have found themselves trapped in a vicious cycle with their talisman.

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On the one hand, they must play him in order to give themselves the best possible chance making an immediate return to the Championship. On the other hand, if they push him too far and the problem worsens, they may be forced to face the play-offs without their key man.

It is something that adds further pressure onto Saturday's clash with Portsmouth, because as has already been mentioned, defeat would surely condemn Sunderland to the play-offs, and you wonder whether McGeady would be able to play through potentially three more games in such a pressurised environment.

It is something Sunderland will surely not want to have to find out.